Follow the Pink Road
by drobin
Summary: Set after Rainbow of Friendship, this story follows Kim and Tommy mainly, but of course will have other Rangers in it. Couplings same as in ROF. R&R. Thanks!
1. Holiday Weekend

Follow the Pink Road

Summary: Takes place after "Rainbow of Friendship". Mainly follows Kim and Tommy through their life, but of course will have other Ranger couples in the mix, as well.

A/N: This story is a continuation of my story, "Rainbow of Friendship". In order to understand where this story is coming from, you really ought to read that story first, otherwise you might just wonder if I'd lost my mind or something. Oh, and as always, r&r. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers, except for a few characters of my own making. I think Disney, or maybe Saban has that honor. Anyhow, just so you know.

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November 22, 2006

3rd Person POV

Tommy let himself into the hospital bungalow Kim used. "Honey, I'm home!" he called in a sing-song voice. Reefside High School had had an early release that day on account of the holiday, and Tommy had wasted no time in teleporting himself to Baltimore for the long weekend.

He noted the laptop on the kitchen table, next to an empty mug and teapot, undoubtedly her treatment for the day. Not hearing her responding to him, Tommy began to worry. "Babe?" he yelled, heading for the master bedroom. That's when he heard it: the tell-tale retching coming from the spare bathroom.

He entered the bathroom quietly, turning the faucet on cold, filling a glass, and soaking a cloth. He rang the washcloth out, then grabbed both items and settled in beside Kimberly. Setting the glass on the floor for the time being, he expertly folded and placed the cool cloth across the back of her neck, holding her until she had finished.

_Oliver, you idiot_, he thought to himself. _It's your fault she's in this condition_. He didn't even realize he had said the words aloud until Kim's voice, broken with her heaving, answered him.

"It's not…completely…your fault," she choked out between bouts of retching. "Chemo…would have…made me…just…as sick." She finally finished, removed the cloth from her neck, and swiped it across her mouth.

Tommy handed her the water glass, smiling as she took one large gulp after another. "Slow down there, hey, easy. You don't want to make yourself sick again, do you?"

She smiled and swatted his arm. "Oh, please. _Nothing_ can make me as sick as those herbs do. Besides, I had to get the taste out of my mouth somehow."

She finished the water, placed the glass back on the counter, and headed back out to the kitchen to clean up her tea things. Glaring at the teapot in distaste, she offered, "You know, I'm convinced those herbs I drink are making me sicker than the pregnancy is. Dr. Rocca said it was gentler on the body than Chemo is, but it makes patients just as sick, if not more so."

"Did you already have your check-up today?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah. Doc says everything looks good," she replied.

Tommy couldn't help but eye her figure doubtfully. She would always be beautiful to him, but he was concerned that she wasn't putting on more weight, given her pregnancy. If anything, she had _lost_ weight.

As if she could read his mind – which she probably could, he admitted to himself – she added quietly, "I'm not sure I agree. I lost another pound and a half this week, which makes more than ten pounds lost since I started treatment in September. Shouldn't I be gaining weight? I mean, the baby-"

Tommy wrapped his arms around her tightly. "The baby will be fine," he murmured into her hair. "You are having a very large meal tomorrow, and I am going to make sure you eat _every scrap of food_ on your plate. Got it?" Kimberly giggled. "In fact, I'm gonna see that you get stuffed this entire weekend, then I'm placing Trini and Dana in charge of watching through the week." He thought for a minute, glancing around the bungalow. "Speaking of whom, where are those two?"

Kim smiled. "They went to pick up Jen and Wes. They knew you'd be coming in early this afternoon, so they wanted to give us a few minutes alone. Once they get back, we're all going shopping for tomorrow's dinner. Only things we have already are the turkeys." She gestured to the corner of the small kitchen, where three coolers were stacked, one on top of another.

"Jesus, Kim. How many people are you expecting?" he asked, peeking into the top cooler to find a 20-pound bird sitting in a brine solution.

"Hmmm, let's see…You and me; Trini and Billy; Jen and Wes; Katie, Lucas, Trip, and Mr. Collins; Dana and Jason; Zack and Angela; Adam and Kendrix; Rocky and Aisha; my dad is coming in late tonight with Mr. and Mrs. Kwan; your parents will be here early in the morning with Mr. and Mrs. Scott and Mrs. Taylor; the Campbells, the DeSantos', and the Parks will be in late tomorrow morning; Captain Mitchell, Ryan, Chad, and Carter will be in early tomorrow afternoon; and Kat and Tanya will be here in a couple hours," she answered triumphantly.

Tommy did a quick figure in his head. "Thirty-eight," he grumbled. "Do we even have room for that many people here?"

"We're having dinner at the Collins house, not here," Kim replied good-naturedly. "Now, come on, Tiger. Trini, Dana, Jen, and Wes will be back any minute, and I still haven't gotten so much as a kiss from you," she pouted.

"That's because you were busy making friends with the toilet," he pointed out. Grinning, he reached out for her and gave her a long, slow kiss, running his hands down her back. "Hmmm…how many minutes do we have until they get here?" he asked, pulling her towards the couch.

She stepped out of his embrace regretfully. "Not enough." They heard a car pull into the driveway and the doors open. "See?" She grinned, grabbed his hand, and headed to the front door in time to see her twin brother walk in.

"Billy!" Kim cried, running to hug him. "What are you doing here so early? I thought you weren't coming in for another four hours or so."

Billy Cranston hugged his sister. _She's so thin_, he thought to himself. _We have to see that she eats more, if for no other reason, than for the sake of her baby_. "I had originally planned on coming later this afternoon," he focused his attention on her question, "but my boss gave us the afternoon off, so I decided to come up early. Couldn't stay away from my two best girls," he grinned, looping one arm around Kimberly and the other around Trini, whose only indication of pregnancy was a slight thickening around her middle.

"Are you guys ready? We still need to buy everything for our dinner tomorrow," Trini announced.

"Yeah, we're ready," Kim replied. "Let me just grab a jacket, my purse, and the shopping list, and we can leave."

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"So what did you girls do this week?" Billy asked Kimberly, Trini, and Dana.

Trini laughed. "Baby, we're three pregnant women sharing a house. What do you think we did? We ate!"

"And talked," Kim added.

"And threw up," Dana finished, grimacing.

Everyone laughed as they left the car and headed into the supermarket. Kim split her list up three ways, and gave one to each couple. Dana stuck with Tommy and Kim to help in case Kim needed medical attention. They shopped steadily for an hour and a half, then met back at the checkout lanes. The women did one final scan to make sure they had everything, and they all got in line.

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Later, after the food had been taken back to the Collins house and put away, Tommy and Kim headed back to their bungalow to settle in for the night. They knew that, with the families arriving the next day, this would be their last chance to be alone the entire weekend.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow, Beautiful?" Tommy asked, caressing her back.

"Mmmm…I need to make a couple pies before we leave, and I need you to drain the turkey brines, and we should head over to Wes and Jen's around eight-thirty or so, to help with the cooking. You boys can watch your football games, but someone's gonna need to be picking the various family members up from the airport through the course of the day," she replied sleepily.

"We'll figure the airline schedule out and take turns doing family runs," Tommy promised, deciding to change the subject. He slid his hands under her shirt and flicked over her nipple with his thumb, causing it to pucker. "How sleepy do you figure you are?" Tommy asked seductively, nibbling on her neck.

"Never to sleepy for _that_, Tiger," she responded huskily, sliding underneath him.

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A/N: Well, there it is. Tell me what you think!


	2. Surprises and Letters

Follow the Pink Road

November 23, 2006

3rd Person POV

"_Everybody's doing a brand new dance, now! (Come on, Baby, do the Loco-Motion!) I know you'll get to like it if you give it a chance, now! (Come on, Baby, do the Loco-Motion!)_" Kim's alarm clock blared the next morning, promptly at five-thirty. Grumbling, she reached over and slapped at it until it shut itself off.

"Tommy," she whispered, snuggling up behind him in the bed. "Tommy, wake up. Come on, honey, your parents are gonna be landing soon and you have to go get them."

Tommy mumbled something into his pillow before rolling out of bed and heading out to the hallway to start the coffee pot.

"Uh, babe?" Kim giggled, gesturing when Tommy turned around. He looked where she was indicating and turned a wry grin on her. He had been going to turn on a coffee pot completely nude.

"This is your fault, you know," he muttered, rifling through their pile of discarded clothing, looking for his pajama pants.

Kim turned a mock-affronted glare on him. "My fault? Exactly who seduced who last night, huh, buster? And who woke who up four times after that for repeat performances?"

"Yeah, well, if you weren't so hot – or so damn good in bed, for that matter – we wouldn't be in this mess, now, would we?" he grinned.

Kim's look turned sultry. "You're not so bad in those areas yourself, Tiger," she purred.

Tommy shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Damn, woman, you're gonna be the death of me," he muttered, heading back out to the kitchen and the coffee pot. Kim made use of the time he was making his coffee to pull a pair of jeans and a white sweatshirt out of the closet and setting them on the bed for Tommy before heading into the bathroom for her shower.

When she had finished with her shower and dressed in a pair of jeans and a soft pink turtleneck sweater, she headed to the kitchen to find Tommy filling his thermos with the coffee he had made, and filling her teapot with water. He set the pot on the stove to boil, then turned to Kim.

"I'll be back in about an hour," he murmured. "Will you be OK here on your own?"

Kim chuckled lightly, shaking her head. "I'll be fine, Handsome. See you soon. I love you," she answered, kissing him between sentences.

Tommy kissed her once more before releasing her. "I love you, too." He ran his hand over her tummy under the sweater, caressing the imaginary bulge there. Kneeling down, he pushed up the sweater and whispered, "Daddy loves you, too, little one," before brushing a feather-soft kiss over her abdomen and standing up again. This scene always made tears come to Kim's eyes. He told their baby he loved it every time he left, and it always touched her.

Wiping the tears away, Kim looked up at Tommy. "Are we gonna tell our parents about the baby this weekend?" she asked. They had refrained from telling his parents before because Kim wanted to tell them in person, and this was the first opportunity she had had to see Tommy's parents since before the Ranger reunion a few months before. They hadn't told her father simply because he was friends with the Olivers and they didn't want him to let something slip.

Tommy thought about her question for a moment, and nodded. "They should know. They'll understand our reasons for waiting until now, but if we let this weekend go by without mentioning it, there will be heads to roll," he laughed. He glanced at his watch. "Speaking of heads rolling," he stammered, "I better get going or mine will roll for being late!" He gave her one more quick kiss before grabbing his thermos and running out the door.

While he was picking up his parents, Trini's parents, and Zack's mom, Kimberly drank her tea, grimacing. _Might as well get the daily torture session over before anyone can see me_, she thought to herself.

Once she had finished her bout in the bathroom, had a glass of water, and had cleaned up the tea things, she straightened up the bedroom that Tommy's parents would use and mixed up the pie dough. Once she had that completed, she set the dough in the refrigerator to rest for thirty minutes. _Just enough time to check my email_, she mused.

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To: PteraFireCrane

From: TnkRsc8

Kimberly,

Forgive the email to you instead of Tommy…I rather think his Swiss Cheese memory is coming back. Anyhow, just wanted to wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving and a bright and joyful holiday season. How's the pregnancy going? Tell Tommy I said he is to watch over you on penalty of death. That was a joke, by the way.

Alex and I have news: we're married! Alex emailed Jen earlier this morning, so you can go ahead and talk to her about it, since I'm sure you and Tommy are spending the holiday with Wes and Jen in Baltimore. We're trying for a baby, but it's slow going. In the meantime, we're having a hell of a time trying!

The future is so different than what I'm used to in the 21st Century, but I've adjusted finally. Mainly thanks to Alex's help. Anyhow, I'll talk to you soon. Billy mentioned something about a phone that can coordinate through time? Can't wait for that to happen!

We love you guys,

Hayley and Alex

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To: PteraFireCrane, FalconFlyer

From: PteraScream

Hey Dr. O, Kim

Just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving! Hunter, Cam, and Sensei have finally got me and Ashley settled in at the Ninja Academy. With Tori on KO-35 with Andros, Ash and I have kind of taken over her role here. It's pretty awesome actually, even though neither of us is really into martial arts. We tend to help the newcomers get settled and act pretty much as mother hens with "our guys". Yeah, I know, Dr. O…who'd have thought that I'd ever "settle down" and be content cooking and cleaning and watching the "little ones"?

Anyway, I should get back. We'll call after the holiday, OK?

Kira, Hunter, Ashley, Cam, Sensei, Blake, Dustin, and Shane

P.S. Sensei has asked that I extend his congratulations on the baby, and that he will email Dr. O (sorry…still can't bring myself to say "Tommy") in a day or two.

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To: PteraFireCrane

From: DolphinSwimmer

Hi Kim,

Happy Thanksgiving! KO-35 is so weird; it's strange not to be celebrating a holiday today. Andros looked at me like I had grown a third head when I asked him if there was anything special planned for today. When I realized my mistake and found out that there was no Thanksgiving here, I think my disappointment must have shown on my face because Andros left the room suddenly. At first I thought I had disappointed him, but when Keltham (the guy who does most of the cooking) asked what goes into a traditional Thanksgiving meal, I knew Andros had spoken to him.

Of course, there are no turkeys or pumpkins or green beans here, but Keltham is a genius in the kitchen and came up with some very creative (and tasty) substitutes. The men enjoyed themselves so much, that they decided we should do this every year, just as Americans do. So I got to have my Thanksgiving after all.

I was sorry to hear you weren't feeling well the last time you wrote; I hope that your sickness has eased up and you're more comfortable now. Tell Tommy I said hello; Andros will email him later today with his personal good wishes.

Always,

Tori

PS Are you getting big, too? Sometimes I feel like an absolute blimp, and I'm not even three months along yet!

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To: PteraFireCrane

From: GalacticallyPink

Hi Kim,

I understand from Tori that today is a holiday for you, so I just wanted to wish you a Merry Thanksgiving. Is that right? It doesn't sound right, but I can't recall what else it might be.

Anyhow, guess what? I'm pregnant! Zhane is over the moon. In your case, literally. That was a bad joke…I really need to work on my sense of humor. When Andros found out, I think he wanted to murder Zhane, even if they had been best friends for so long. He changed his tune when he found out that Zhane asked me to marry him the day after we found out about the baby.

I should let you go. Have a wonderful day, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Karone and Zhane

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To: PteraFireCrane, SmartCheetah

From: WolfCry

Kimberly and Kendrix,

Kendrix, do you enjoy living on Earth as much as I do? Everything is so informal and natural here. Of course, things are pretty natural in the forests of Mirinoi, as well, but here there's no hierarchy, no structure to the classes. Cole says there is no class system with the people in America because they wanted to get away from that kind of "binding structure" that plagued them in Europe. Kimberly, you grew up with American History ingrained in you; is it true?

Anyhow, I learned just yesterday of another American tradition. Today is Thanksgiving Day. I asked Cole for a synopsis of the history of this day and why it is so important, and he mentioned something about "Pilgrims". Kimberly, maybe you can be of some more help with that, as well?

Well, I should go…I can smell some wonderful aromas coming out of the kitchen and am anxious to go see what's cooking, even though it will probably make me sick. I must have caught the flu finally…I can't keep anything down anymore!

Maya

PS Cole mentioned that we would be able to visit for Christmas, if that's agreeable to all of you, and if we wouldn't be intruding on family time.

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_It's a good thing Billy created that software that will allow our computers to accept messages from other times and galaxies_, Kimberly thought to herself. She issued a letter of congratulations to Alex and Hayley; told Kira that her patience with the "little ones" would be rewarded someday; replied that she was happy that Tori seemed to be settling in to life on KO-35 so well; congratulated Karone and Zhane on their impending nuptials and parenthood (and gave Karone the correct greeting for the day); and said how happy she was that Maya enjoyed herself so much living here, she hoped she felt better soon, and couldn't wait to see them for Christmas.

She finished her emails and glanced at the clock. Seven o'clock. _Yikes, the pies!_ she thought. She ran back to the kitchen, rolled out the dough, and started making the pie crusts. She had finished the fillings the morning before and stashed them in the refrigerator, so she got them out and began filling the shells. Just as she was popping them all in the oven, she heard the front door open.

She placed the last pie in the oven, shut the door, and turned to greet her guests. Tommy had picked up his parents, Jason's parents, and Zack's mother. Four people Kim hadn't planned on seeing were also there: her mother, Pierre, Ken Hart, and Kenny. She groaned inwardly, dreading what the day would bring. Ken had no idea that she knew she wasn't his daughter. She had waited to tell him that little bit of information until she could stomach the argument that was sure to ensue. And her father was just a couple minutes away at the Collins house.

She glanced at Tommy, who shrugged helplessly. "Well, honey, aren't you going to come say hello to your family?" Ken asked impatiently.

Awkwardly, Kim went up and hugged each one dutifully. "Hi," she mumbled to each of them. When she came to her mother, she hugged her fiercely. "Hi, Mom!" she cried.

Stephanie Hart-Dumas knew how hard this must be for her daughter and whispered, "I'm sorry baby. He called and insisted on coming. I couldn't very well say 'no' to him without telling him why."

Kim nodded. She understood; it was just lousy timing. "It's OK. We'll deal," she whispered back. She turned to Tommy's parents apprehensively. She knew they would likely blame her for breaking their son's heart so many years ago, and she couldn't blame them. Even if she hadn't sent the letter to him; for all they knew, she had.

Her worries were for naught, however. Jan opened her arms wide and hauled Kimberly into them, holding on tightly. "I always knew you were the right one for my son," she avowed. "I'm so glad you two have worked things out. He loves you, you know."

Kim nodded. "I know. The feeling is very mutual," she replied.

Drew Oliver pulled his wife away long enough to give Kim a hug himself. "Welcome back to the family, Kimberly," he offered.

"Back?" Kim looked confused. "Tommy and I aren't married, Dr. Oliver."

Drew laughed. "We know that. But when our son dated you in high school, we always figured you'd one day be our daughter. When you broke up, that dream diminished some. Now that he's got you again, well, let's just say that he's not stupid enough to let you go a second time."

Kim laughed at the explanation. She had always loved Tommy's parents; they were so _normal_ compared to her family.

"By the way, Kimberly," Drew added, "that painting you gave my wife for her birthday now has a place of honor over our mantle. Everyone that comes into our house asks who we commissioned to paint it for us. I suspect that if you ever decide not to be a scientist anymore, that you would do just fine as a painter."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Kim giggled. "I'm pretty happy with Paleobotany, though."

The timer buzzed for the pies, so Kim went to see to the food while Tommy showed his parents to their room and the Scotts, Harts, Dumas', and Mrs. Taylor chatted in the living room. They would all be staying at the Collins house.

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"Tommy," his mother began, once they were safely in the bedroom. "There's a couple things we want to ask you about Kimberly."

"Yes, it's serious, Mom," Tommy replied, chuckling. "I love her, as you so obligingly pointed out to her, and she loves me."

Jan shook her head. "That's not what I was talking about. She's so thin…it seems like she's lost weight…that she's even smaller than she was in high school."

Drew nodded. "She does seem small for even someone her size," he added.

Tommy sighed. He didn't want to tell his parents about her pregnancy without her, so he settled on an answer that he hoped they would buy. "She's been really sick. The treatment she's been given makes her sick, so she hasn't been able to keep much food down."

"I noticed she still has hair," Drew commented. "Shouldn't the Chemo have made it fall out by now?"

"She isn't on Chemo – or radiation, before you ask – she's on an herbal treatment for the time being," Tommy replied.

"Chemo would kill the Leukemia faster," Drew pointed out.

"We know," Tommy said, frustrated. _Unfortunately, it would also kill our baby_. "Look, Kimberly and her doctor decided this would be the best course for the time being. End of story, got it?"

Jan and Drew nodded, unsatisfied. "There was something else I noticed," Drew mentioned thoughtfully.

"And what's that, Dad?" Tommy grumbled.

"She seems very strained around her father. Has he done something to her?"

Knowing Kim had wanted him to tell his parents about her parentage as soon as possible, Tommy had no qualms about answering his question completely. "Kim's given me the go-ahead to tell you this; just don't mention it in front of everybody, since Mr. Hart doesn't know she knows." Jan and Drew nodded silently. "Mr. Hart isn't Kimberly's Dad. Dr. Cranston is."

He explained about the affair between John Cranston and Stephanie Hart thirty years previously, and how the only people that had known about it until recently had been Trini's parents. He also explained how Ken had treated Kimberly as a result, and this created anger in Drew.

"He would beat her?" he spat out. "Just because she _dared_ to be born to John Cranston?"

"That's awful," Jan sympathized. "The poor girl. That horrid man…you don't beat a child over something that's not their fault…that's just wrong!"

Tommy was proud of his parents' reactions to the news. The same reactions he had had when Stephanie had told him over the phone a month earlier. He reiterated his warning not to mention anything, and left his parents to unpack while he went to drain the turkey brines.

An hour later, the pies had cooled, the turkeys had drained, and everything was packed in Kim's Expedition, so they headed to the Collins mansion to celebrate the day.

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A/N: Well, there it is. Let me know what you think! And I would like to take this opportunity to thank MagCat, GinaStar, Slytherin-Angel44, Lavonne Adams, Slshadowfox, PinkRanger4Evr, and TrueRomantic for all the reviews you guys put in during the course of "Rainbow of Friendship". You guys really kept me going! Thanks to everyone else who reviewed, of course, too.


	3. Surprise Announcements

A/N: OK, so I've started to write a story for "Bones" now, too, so it looks like I'll be posting chapters for "Follow the Pink Road" once a week…maybe twice, if I can find the time.

GinaStar: I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much.

Chan-Valerte: I hope you weren't too confused when you started reading this story and got hit with all the odd things happening in it: ie, Kim and Billy twins, Kim's cancer, the weird couples, etc.

TrueRomantic: The recognition was something that should have happened a very long time ago; I meant it, without all the reviews you guys put in, I probably would have given up on "Rainbow". As for the emails, well, I thought we should hear what's been happening in the lives of some of the absent Rangers.

Forevercrane: I'm glad you enjoy my work; it means a lot.

Hansongirl14: You know, whenever I finish writing a chapter, I can never wait to find out what happens in the next one, either. I usually have an idea what I would _like_ to happen, then the story just takes on a life of its own and goes a completely different way!

Enigmaforum: I'm glad you enjoyed all the odd pairings on "Rainbow". It started out as a challenge from a friend: to write a story that included _all_ of the ranger teams, had all the rangers falling in love, but only incorporated no more than ten "accepted" couples. Eventually, I just enjoyed writing the story for the sake of writing the story.

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Follow the Pink Road

November 23, 2006

3rd Person POV

"So Jen," Kim asked a couple hours later, as they were peeling potatoes, "tell me about the rock on your hand." She grinned mischievously at her friend, indicating the three-stone diamond ring.

Jen looked up in surprise, then smiled quietly. "Wes asked me to marry him last night. I told him the ring was too big, but he mentioned it had been handed down from mother to daughter-in-law for the past six generations. When I heard that, I stopped arguing."

"It _is_ beautiful," Kim agreed with a nod.

"So when are you and Tommy going to tie the knot?" Dana asked with a knowing smile.

"Me and Tommy?" Kim looked surprised. "I don't think we will. At least, not for the foreseeable future. I mean, with his teaching, and my research and deadlines for the book my boss wants me to write, and doctor appointments, and being the official 'family correspondent', and my pregnancy – who has time to plan a wedding?" She shrugged.

Jen looked away. "Maybe later, then," she said quietly. Neither one of them mentioned what they were both thinking: that Kimberly may not have a later.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"OK, guys, who's gonna go get Zack, Angela, and Jason from the train station?" Trini asked the men in the living room. "Jase just called and said they'd be pulling in the train station in forty-five minutes." Tommy, Billy, Wes, Mr. Collins, Lucas, Trip, Adam, John, Pierre, Kenny, Ken, Mr. Kwan, and Mr. Scott were sprawled out in various areas in front of the Collins' big-screen TV, watching one of the many games on that day.

Wes stood up. "I'll go," he offered.

"Me, too," Daniel Scott added. "Let me just go see if Dana wants to come with us, Wes, and we can head out." Wes nodded as Daniel ran into the kitchen to fetch Dana.

"In that case," Kat came into the room. "Luke, would you and Adam like to pick up Rocky and Aisha? Their flight should be landing shortly."

Luke nodded. "As long as Adam drives," he replied.

"No problem," Adam answered. "Let's go." The men kissed their girlfriends goodbye and headed out after Wes, Daniel, and Dana.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later, after everyone had been picked up, the women gathered in the kitchen to divide up the work. OK, so we have the turkeys in the ovens," Jen announced. "The potatoes are peeled and cut and are sitting in water, waiting to cook. What about yams?"

"I can do yams," Aisha offered. "My family has a really good recipe."

Jen nodded. "OK, what about green beans?"

"I can make the green beans. Is everyone alright with Korean style?" Mei Kwan asked. After everyone's nod, Jen noted it on her list.

"Macaroni salad? Potato salad? Fruit Salad?" Jen continued.

"I can make the macaroni salad," Kendrix offered.

"And I've got the potato salad," Katie added.

"OK, there are a few potatoes reserved for you from the ones Jen and I peeled, Katie," Kim offered, indicating the bowl of potatoes. Katie nodded.

"I can do the fruit salad," Trini finished. Jen finished her notations and continued with her list.

"Spinach dip and crab dip?" she asked.

"I've got the crab dip," Kim piped in.

"And I can get the spinach dip," Kat added.

"Cranberry sauce? Gravy?"

"I can make the cranberry sauce now, and I can whip up the gravy when the turkeys come out of the oven," Danika Campbell offered.

"Deviled eggs? Rolls?"

"I can do the deviled eggs," Tamara Park chimed in.

"I'll start the rolls now, so they have enough time to rise, then bake them real quick once the turkeys come out of the oven," Tanya added.

"Kim, how are we on pies?" Jen asked.

"I made a pumpkin, an apple, and a peach this morning," Kim responded.

"OK, so we still need someone to do a banana cream and a chocolate cream, at least," Jen continued.

"I can do those," Dana offered.

"OK, so that's all on my list, but we also agreed to take suggestions. Anyone have any ideas?" Jen asked.

"I can make tamales. We have it for every holiday," Zaigra DeSantos offered.

"Wonderful!" Jen responded. "Anyone else?"

"I can do fried okra," Lilith Taylor replied. "Like Zaigra's tamales, it's a family tradition."

"And along with that, I can do collard greens," Angela piped in.

"Soupe a l'oignon is a popular holiday meal starter in France," Stephanie Dumas added. "I can make that."

"French onion soup, great!" Jen replied.

"My son loves an Italian antipasti tray during the holidays," Julia Scott said about Jason. "I can do that."

"We have homemade eggnog at our house every year. I can make one pitcher with brandy and one without, for those that don't drink," Jan Oliver announced.

"Excellent! And butternut and acorn squash are popular in my family, so I can do those," Jen finished, noting everything on her list.

"Oh, yum!" Kim remarked about the squash, heading to the fridge for the crabs she had bought the day before.

"Yeah, they are really good. Especially baked with honey and melted butter drizzled over them. We have it every year," Jen replied, pulling the squash out of the bowl on the counter.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Ladies, that meal was _amazing_. Really, you all outdid yourselves," John announced, pushing out from the table and placing a hand on his belly to emphasize how full it was.

"Glad you liked it, Dr. Cranston, because since the women cooked, the men are cleaning up. That was our deal with them," Jason responded, grabbing his and Dana's plates and heading to the kitchen.

"Before you guys clean up, I think Tommy and I are going to make our announcement," Kim reminded Jason, turning to her mother, and glancing at John, then Ken. Ken was really her main worry; she didn't know how he would react to this news. She took a deep breath and grabbed Tommy's hand for support.

"Oh, God, you aren't gonna _marry_ him, are you?" Ken asked, before Kim could make her announcement.

"What? How _dare_ you talk about Tommy that way!" Kim shouted at him.

"How dare I? I'll tell you how I dare, Kimberly Ann Hart: I'm your father!"

"My name is Kimberly Elizabeth Cranston. I am the daughter of John Cranston and Stephanie Dumas. Don't you _ever_ call me your daughter again!" she answered coolly.

"You may have _lowered_ yourself to raise the daughter of a man you hated just so people wouldn't know what a horrible husband you were, but guess what? John Cranston was a better father to me than you ever were. Even when I simply thought of him as the widowed father of my best friend, he was always there for me. He was at every dance recital, every gymnastics competition, every play, and every concert I was ever in. Where were you? Too busy. That should have been my first clue right there."

"You can't seriously think that _Dr. Cranston_ is your father, can you? That's just wrong, Kim," Kenny announced. "Besides, I remember when you were born."

"You do not, Kenny," Kim mentioned tiredly. "You may have remembered it, that's true, had you been there, but you weren't. Your dad took you away on a business trip with him so he could get you away from Mom, who was sleeping with my dad at the time. He thought she was a poor influence on you. When you came back, he said he'd raise me, but she had to get rid of her son."

"But…but she didn't get rid of me. I'm still here," Kenny responded, his face going white.

Billy came around the table, slipping his arm around Kimberly's waist. "She wasn't talking about you," he said quietly.

"Billy?" Mrs. Taylor asked. "You're twins? Why didn't we ever know about this?" She and the Scotts turned to Stephanie, and then John.

"Yeah, we were your friends. You should have told us," Daniel Scott accused.

John held up a hand to quiet everyone. "We figured the fewer people who knew about our secret, the better. The only people who knew, besides myself and Steph, were Ju and Mei Kwan. They saw Steph let herself in my back door one night when they were walking their dog."

All eyes turned to the Kwans. "We had never liked Samantha Cranston; she was always shouting at her husband. And Ken Hart, well, you can see how he treats people," Ju waved his arms in Ken's direction. "So we went to Stephanie and John, told them what we knew, and said we would keep the secret."

"I was nearly six months pregnant with Trini at the time, so it was not hard for me to make up a story that Samantha was in the same Lamaze class that Stephanie and I were in. It never even occurred to anybody that Samantha was not around then; she had been at her mother's house in Anaheim for almost seven months by then," Mei added.

"What! You kept the secret for this, this _slut_ and her home wrecking Orthodontist _pimp_?" Ken demanded, face red.

Everyone stared at Ken in shock. Kimberly was shaking with rage, Trini had her mouth open, Zack and Jason were glaring at Ken, Tommy had his arms protectively around Kimberly on one side of him and Trini on the other, but Billy was the only one with the presence of mind to _do_ something. Kim felt him tighten his hold around her waist before deliberately walking up to Ken.

"I think you should leave, Mr. Hart," he said evenly. "But before you do so, you will apologize. You will apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Kwan, Tommy, and Kimberly for shouting at them, you will apologize to my father for calling him a 'home wrecking pimp', and you will most _assuredly_ apologize to my mother for calling her a 'slut'."

Ken had never liked Billy, mainly because he was his ex-wife's son. But other than that, Billy was a science whiz, and any "man" that liked school over sports wasn't a "real man" in Ken's eyes. "And if I don't, Four Eyes? What'll you do to me?" he sneered.

Ken was so busy laughing that he didn't notice Billy's fist until it connected with his nose. Blood streamed out his nostrils and down his shirt. Billy glared at him before stalking out to the balcony. Kimberly made to go after him, but Ken stopped her.

"If you follow that asshole, Kimberly, you are no longer my daughter," he warned menacingly.

"Billy's my twin brother, _Ken_, and you were never my father," she replied coolly, before turning back to follow Billy.

After she left, John Collins turned to Ken and Kenny. "I think you two need to leave my home now," he warned. "Billy and Kimberly have been _great_ friends to my son, and I won't allow anyone to treat them so disrespectfully."

"We wouldn't stay here another minute if you paid us to," Kenny replied, taking their coats and bags from Wes and stomping out the door.

Tommy and Trini started to head out to the balcony, but John and Stephanie stopped them. "You two can come out in a minute," Stephanie began, "but John and I need to talk with our kids first."

Tommy nodded and pulled Trini back into the dining room, where the guys had begun to clear the table.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Billy, I was proud of you for standing up for your mother and sister like that," John commended his son, once he and Stephanie had reached them.

"What a jerk! Mom, how could you ever have been married to such an asshole?" Billy asked.

"I was young, and stupid, and pregnant in high school. Ken thought he was 'doing me a favor' by marrying him, and my parents agreed," she replied sadly. "Do you know how wonderful it is to hear you call me 'Mom'? It almost makes the last 29 years worth it. Almost, but not quite." She pulled her son into a hug, while Kimberly moved to her father's side and wrapped her arms around his middle.

"Kimberly, was there something you and Tommy were going to tell us?" John asked his daughter, remembering her announcement before Ken's tirade.

"Shit! I forgot all about it. We can call a meeting in the living room, though," Kim replied tiredly. Her cancer and pregnancy, with the huge meal she had just eaten and the events with Ken, had really taken their toll on her energy levels.

"Billy, do you know anything about this?" Stephanie asked her son, who still had his arm around her shoulders.

He grinned. "Yes, and so does Trini, but we are sworn to secrecy."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Pierre, Stephanie, John, Drew and Jan Oliver, Ju, Mei, Tommy, Kimberly, Billy, and Trini gathered in the living room for a short family meeting before the group played the board games they had set up for that evening.

"OK, so we called you all in here because Kimberly and I have something to tell you, right?" Tommy asked. After everyone's nod, he continued.

"Well, Mr. Hart was not correct in his guess that Kimberly and I are getting married; we're not – yet," he winked at Kim.

"We're having a baby!" Kim announced. "I'm almost three months along; in fact, the baby is due three days after Trini and Billy's."

"We're going to be grandparents?" Drew asked, glancing at his wife. At Kimberly's happy nod, they ran up and engulfed Kim in a hug. It wasn't long before John and Stephanie did the same with Tommy.

After everyone had finished their round of hugs and back-slaps, Tommy suggested they head to the rec room, where the rest of the group had undoubtedly set up the games.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Well, there's chapter three. Good? Bad? Indifferent? Tell me what you think!


	4. Hanging Out

GinaStar: A wedding will happen, just maybe not immediately right away. I think Tommy wants to surprise Kim with it. I'm kind of a traditionalist, too, so I completely understand what you're saying.

Enigmaforum: Billy tends to kind of be a little on the shy side when it comes to people he doesn't know well. In the series, I think he started out as completely socially inept, but as the series progressed, his time as a Ranger helped him build confidence enough to where he got contacts and stopped wearing the horrible overalls all the time. I wanted to show how he has continued to develop and become more well-rounded, in terms of defending the people he cares for.

MagCat: I don't think I've ever seen an episode with either Ken or Kenny Hart in it, although it seems to be pretty commonly accepted that those are their names. Anyhow, so I don't know how they would behave…this was just the way the story took me, and it seemed to fit.

Lavonne Adams: I thought about making Tommy react to Ken instead of Billy, but it just made more sense to me to have Billy react, since it was his family and his girlfriend's parents being attacked. Besides, I thought it would be fun to have him shock everyone by his outburst; everyone knows Tommy can lose his temper when provoked.

Slytherin-Angel44: I hate how Ken treated Kim, too. That's just the way it goes, though.

TrueRomantic: There's a reason that Kenny sided with Ken instead of Kim and Billy. It probably won't be revealed in this chapter, but it will come out later.

Chan-Valerte: Yes, Ken is a big jerk. There will be more on his history with Kim and her parents and Kenny later, and you can come back and say what an even bigger jerk he is.

Jps1926: Welcome to the band of followers I seem to have acquired! Glad you enjoyed _Rainbow of Friendship_ so much, and I hope that _Follow the Pink Road_ is as successful. You read all that in one sitting? It must have taken you at least three hours!

Kels Tolar: I'm glad you enjoy my writing so much. Keep reading; the ideas I have for this story will only make it better.

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Follow the Pink Road

December 15, 2006

3rd Person POV

"_I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus underneath the mistletoe last night. She didn't see me creep down the stairs to have a peep; she thought that I was tucked up in my bedroom, fast asleep. Then, I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus underneath his beard, so snowy white. Oh, what a laugh it would have been if Daddy had only seen Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night._"

Tommy, Billy, Adam, and Wes watched Kimberly, Trini, Kendrix, Jen, and Dana sing Christmas carols in the Collins living room. The five women had volunteered to put on a Christmas concert for the children in the Pediatric Oncology ward of the hospital. The concert was scheduled for the following day, and the girls were doing a final run-through of the carols they had chosen.

Trini, Kendrix, Jen, and Dana stepped away while Kimberly began a solo. "_Greeting cards have all been sent; the Christmas rush is through; but I still have one more wish to make, a special one for you: Merry Christmas, Darling. We're apart, that's true, but I can dream, and in my dreams, I'm Christmasing with you._"

The other women came back up and they finished with several more songs. "_Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock! Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring, snowing and blowing up bushels of fun, now the Jingle Hop has begun. Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock! Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time, dancing and prancing in Jingle Bell Square in the frosty air._"

"_Rocking around the Christmas tree at the Christmas party hop, mistletoe hung where you can see every couple tries to stop. Rocking around the Christmas tree, let the Christmas spirit ring. Later we'll have some pumpkin pie and we'll do some caroling. You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear voices singing let's be jolly, deck the halls with boughs of holly! Rocking around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday. Everyone dancing merrily in the new old-fashioned way!_"

"_Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling, too. Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you. Outside, the snow is falling and friends are calling 'yoo-hoo'. Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you. Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, let's go, let's look at the show; we're riding in a wonderland of snow. Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, it's grand just holding your hand. We're gliding along with a song of a wintry fairyland!_"

"_Chestnuts roasting on an open fire; Jack Frost nipping at your nose; yule-tide carols being sung by a choir; and folks dressed up like Eskimos. Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright. Tiny tots, with their eyes all aglow, will find it hard to sleep tonight. They know that Santa's on his way, he's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh. And every mother's child is gonna spy to see if reindeer really know how to fly. And so, I'm offering this simple phrase, to kids from one to ninety-two, although it's been said many times, many ways: Merry Christmas to You._"

"_Up on the housetop, reindeer pause; out jumps good ol' Santa Claus. Down through the chimney with lots of toys, all for the little ones' Christmas joys. Ho-ho-ho, who wouldn't go! Ho-ho-ho, who wouldn't go up on the housetop, click, click, click! Down through the chimney with good Saint Nick?_"

The men applauded the women and the group sat down to the lunch that Wes' staff had prepared. The men had an afternoon of football games to watch while the women headed to the mall to finish up their Christmas shopping. Today had been the last day of school for Tommy, so he was to be in Baltimore until the beginning of the New Year. Billy had also taken the next three weeks off, so he would be here until then, too.

"Kim, what happened to Mom and Pierre?" Billy asked, glancing around. "Aren't they still here?"

Kim nodded, grinning. "They are, but it's their anniversary this weekend, so they've gone on an overnight trip. They'll be back tomorrow."

"Speaking of parents," Tommy interjected, "Mine will be here on Monday. And David will be here not for Christmas, but for the New Year."

"And Dad will come in with Trini's parents next Friday," Billy finished.

"Are we expecting anyone else?" Wes asked, glancing around. He remembered how uninvited guests had affected the last holiday they had hosted.

"Yeah, Cole and Maya will be here on Sunday and will stay through the New Year," Kendrix answered.

"Zack and Angela will be here next Friday with Jason," Dana supplied. "The Taylors will only be here until the day after Christmas, but Jase will stay until the second or third."

"Rocky and Aisha will be here on Monday. They'll be here through Christmas, but not through the New Year," Adam contributed.

"Kat and Lucas will be in the States as of tomorrow," Trini supplied, "But they won't be here until Christmas Eve. They'll stay until the second, and then Kat's dancing group officially goes on tour."

"Trip called and said he'd be here for the New Year," Jen announced, "but that he was going to spend Christmas with Katie and Chad."

Kim's cell phone rang then and she popped out of her seat to answer it. "Kimberly Cranston," she spouted into the receiver. The voice on the other end of the line made her smile. "Zack! How are you guys? What? That's great news! Zack, that's awesome! Have they assigned you yet? Really? That should be…interesting. Well, congratulations. Will we still see you for Christmas? Oh, that's too bad, but at least we get you guys for Christmas Eve, right? OK, see you then. Say hi to Angela for me." She hung up the phone and sighed, turning to the group sitting at the table. "Great news! Zack's been promoted to detective," she announced, resuming her seat between Tommy and Dana.

"Really?" Trini squealed, happy for her friend. "That's awesome!"

"Does he have an assignment yet?" Billy asked.

Kim nodded. "Special Victims," she replied, slightly concerned.

"You mean like the television show?" Jen inquired, tilting her head.

"Yeah," Kim laughed. "I guess if there's anyone that can deal with living victims, it's Zack. The man can charm the venom right out of a snake."

"That's true," Billy chuckled.

"Kim, how did your doctor's appointment go this morning?" Jen asked, placing the last forkful of linguine in her mouth.

"Good, I think. I actually had two appointments; one with Dr. Rocca and one with Dr. Myerson. Dr. Rocca took a blood sample and sent it to the lab to get analyzed; we'll get the results on Monday. Dr. Myerson weighed me and told me exactly what I already knew: I have to gain more weight for the baby. Since I'm in my third trimester, he gave me some herbs to mix with my herbal treatment for cancer that should help settle my stomach when I drink the tea every day. Hopefully, that'll help stop the vomiting."

The group finished their lunch and the girls headed out to the mall, leaving the guys to watch their football games.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Hey guys, just a second," Kim requested several hours later, as they were about to drive back to the house. "Let's head over to the bakery for a minute. I need to check on the cake I ordered for my mom and Pierre's anniversary party, and I also need to order one for Tommy's birthday next Friday."

Dana, who had taken over driving while Kim was ill, turned the SUV in the direction of Charm City Cakes, a bakery that specializes in wild and over-the-top cakes. They entered and were immediately greeted by Duff Goldman, the crazy owner of the bakery.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" he shouted, popping his head up from behind a giant Scooby-Doo cake. He finished whatever detail he was adding to the cake and approached the group.

"How are you, Duff?" Kim asked, smiling.

"I am awesome, Kim! Did you want to see your cake? Geoff's working on it over there," he gestured to his sous chef, who was busily working on the detail work of her cake. Since something her mother and Pierre loved to do was to sit at home in the evening sipping wine and nibbling cheese and crackers, she had ordered the cake to be in the shape of their favorite bottle of wine surrounded by various types of French cheeses on top of a cutting board.

Kim wandered over and glanced at the layout. "Geoff, that's incredible!" she gushed, peeking at the wedges of brie and camembert and bleu.

"Thank you, thank you," he stated in a false deep voice, bowing repeatedly. "You're not here to pick it up, are you?"

"Uh, no," Kim replied, patting him on the shoulder. "I think you guys are delivering it tomorrow. I'm actually here to order another cake."

As her friends wandered around the bakery looking at the different cakes, Kim and Duff approached the front desk where Mary Alice was on the phone with a client. "How's the treatment coming, Kim?" Duff asked, grabbing an order form and writing her information at the top.

"As well as can be expected," she replied, grinning. "So I'm ordering the cake for Tommy; it's his birthday on Friday."

"OK. Do you have a flavor in mind?"

"His favorite dessert is tiramisu; can you do a cake with those flavors?"

"Absolutely. Did you have an idea for the look of the cake, or did you want to look at a sample book?"

"Actually, I have an idea. How hard would it be for you to do a bunch of smaller cakes on one base?" she asked, glancing sideways at him.

"Not difficult, but that's depending on what the cakes will look like," the baker replied.

"A dragon, a tiger, a falcon, a race car, and a brontosaurus," she spouted off, hoping he wouldn't catch the significance of such items. He jotted the notes down, and Kim drew sketches of how she wanted each of Tommy's cakes to look. After about half an hour of discussion, she handed her credit card to Mary Alice to pay for the new order and she and the other women left the bakery.

They picked up Chinese food on the way home and let themselves into the Collins home just as an eruption of cheering was heard from the living room. They entered the room, arms laden with bags, and took in the sight before them: Wes and Adam were seated on the couch with Billy in the armchair. Tommy was seated on the floor, next to the coffee table with a sheaf of papers spread out around him. Obviously, the guys' team had just intercepted, as they were all rooting on the player that was running across the field with the ball.

Approaching her boyfriend from behind, Kim noticed that the papers were actually final exams that he was grading while watching the game. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his neck as he turned and grinned at her. He stole a quick kiss before returning his attention to the papers and the games.

"Come on guys, we brought food!" Trini called from the dining room behind them, where she had dropped the bag of food on the table before dumping her shopping bags on one of the chairs. The men came up and each grabbed a container of their favorite dish before settling themselves in the living room once again.

The women rolled their eyes at each other and sighed, grinning. They knew they wouldn't drag their men away from that television anytime soon, so they grabbed the remaining containers and joined the guys in the living room.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N and Disclaimer: I do not own Charm City Cakes or any of the characters inside the bakery. It is a real bakery in Baltimore, with Duff and Geoff and Mary Alice, and several other bakers. I watch their show, Ace of Cakes, on the Food Network and had to include it in this story somewhere.


	5. Problems

TrueRomantic: Of course I updated! I would have updated this chapter earlier, but as I said in _Winter Wonderland_, I've been really sick recently and haven't felt up to it. Anyhow, I hope to be updating both stories a lot more often now. Dr. Rocca is Vida and Madison's uncle. In _Rainbow of Friendship_, Vida mentioned that she and Maddie had an uncle that was an oncologist at Johns Hopkins; that's Dr. Rocca.

GinaStar: I decorate cakes as a hobby, too, and you're right; it is fun.

MagCat: I get excited when I'm watching sports, too. I'm more of a baseball fan, but I enjoy football and basketball, as well.

Jps1926: I love the show Ace of Cakes, too. It's awesome the things they can do out of cake and fondant. And don't be fooled by the hanging out; the action will be starting shortly.

Funkymonky102: I don't know how many chapters this will end up being. _Rainbow of Friendship_ ended up being 31 chapters, and my Bones story _Winter Wonderland_ is currently at 19, so it may go on for a little bit.

A/N: So I have to apologize again for not updating before now. I have been really sick the last couple of months. It started out as a cold, then turned into a flu, then Pneumonia, then Bronchitis, then that coupled with an ear infection that turned into a sinus infection. Eeeek! But I'm on the mend now, so I can get back to typing and hopefully have more chapters out really soon. Yay!

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December 16, 2006

"Kimberly, Billy, this was incredible. Thank you." Stephanie Dumas reached for her husband's hand as she spoke to her children. Kim and Billy had decided to split the bill to treat everyone to a nice dinner out for their mother's anniversary dinner. They had looked around Baltimore and decided on Maison Marconi, a bistro that specialized in both French and Italian fare.

Kim took another bite of her Chicken Tetrazzini and grinned. "You're welcome, Mom. Happy Anniversary, and we still have another surprise for you when we get home."

"Actually," Tommy said as he stood up, "I have a surprise that I'd like to give right now." He nodded at Billy, who nodded back and stood up as well.

"So do I," the genius affirmed.

_Beep Beep Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep_, Tommy's communicator chimed. Tommy, Billy, Kimberly, Trini, Jen, Wes, Dana, Adam, Kendrix, and Mr. Collins glanced worriedly at each other before Kimberly nudged Tommy.

"Go check on that problem you had, Handsome. Let us know if you need us," she suggested nonchalantly, glancing meaningfully at her mother and Pierre. Tommy nodded and kissed her briefly before motioning to Billy, Adam, and Wes that he'd like them to come with him. The three men kissed their girlfriends and followed after the White Ranger.

Dana asked the waiter for some boxes while Kim handed him her credit card to pay for the meal. Once he had returned, she factored in an additional 20 percent for a tip, signed the slip, and helped the other women pack up their leftovers.

"Is Thomas well, Kimberly?" Pierre asked in his heavily-accented voice.

Despite her anxiety over Zordon's call, Kim smiled. "He's fine, Pierre, but thanks for asking. He had a…situation…he had to deal with. His watch actually doubles as a pager, and a friend of ours has been given the authority to page him anytime if he's needed. That's all it was." When her stepfather accepted her modified story, Kimberly breathed an inward sigh of relief that she didn't have to specify just what _kind_ of help that "friend" of Tommy's would need.

"Jen, I think I'll take Mr. and Mrs. Dumas out for a nightcap," Mr. Collins suggested, as they left the restaurant. "Will you girls be OK on your own?"

Jen nodded knowingly as he climbed into the limo with the Dumas'. Once they were safely alone, the girls hurried into a nearby alley, took a quick glimpse around, and teleported to the Command Center. After the defeat of Zedd and Rita in September, Billy had programmed the ability to slide teleport into the communicators of all the teams that hadn't already had that ability.

When they arrived at the Command Center, the siren was blaring and Tommy, Billy, Wes, and Adam were staring at the Viewing Globe, which was actually a giant flat-screen television. The girls approached behind them; Kim, Kendrix, Trini, and Jen snaking their arms around their boyfriends' waists.

Tommy twisted slightly and slung his right arm around Kim's shoulders, pinning her to his side as they watched the image of the tengas and the blue-and-grey monster with the gold face. Kimberly recognized the monster and voiced what she was thinking.

"Globbor? I mean, I thought that he was…didn't Ninjor…with his energy balls? And before that, the Rangers…didn't they…with the Ninja Mega Falconzord?" At Tommy, Billy, and Adam's amused looks, she grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "Hey, I was in Florida, not Mars. I kept up with you guys; I knew what you were doing and who you were fighting…all the way through Tommy's stint in red."

Tommy looked surprised at that, but his thought was interrupted by Zordon's booming voice.

"YES, KIMBERLY, THAT IS GLOBBOR. YOU ARE CORRECT ALSO, IN THE ASSUMPTION THAT HE WAS DESTROYED. HE MUST HAVE BEEN RECREATED FOR SOME PURPOSE."

"Yeah, to torment us," Adam muttered, earning him a slight squeeze from Kendrix.

"Well, since Globbor is here, we know that Master Vile is somewhere close by," Tommy concluded.

"I believe we can all deduce why he has come back now," Billy reasoned.

"No, actually I can't," Wes argued. "Who is this Master Vile and why would he come here?"

"Master Vile is Rita Repulsa and Rito Revolto's father," Kimberly answered. "My guess as to why he's come back: revenge. We killed Rita, Zedd, and Rito in September, so now he's after us."

"VERY LIKELY YOU ARE CORRECT, KIMBERLY. SENSORS INDICATE MASTER VILE IS ON THE MOON, IN ZEDD AND RITA'S PALACE, AND THAT GLOBBOR IS NOW ATTACKING DOWNTOWN ANGEL GROVE. KIMBERLY, TRINI, JEN, DANA, AND KENDRIX, I AM SENDING YOU DOWN WITH THE MEN, BUT BE VERY CAREFUL. ALPHA HAS TAPPED THE MORPHIN' GRID TO MONITOR YOUR PREGNANCIES AND TO PROTECT YOUR UNBORN CHILDREN. GO NOW, MY RANGERS, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU ALL."

"Alright, guys, let's do it!" Tommy shouted, reaching in his back pocket for his morpher. "It's Morphin' Time!"

"Pink Crane!" Kimberly called.

"Black Frog!" called Adam.

"Blue Wolf!" called Billy.

"White Tiger!" called Tommy.

"Lavender Panther!" called Trini.

"Peach Cheetah!" called Kendrix.

"Lightspeed Rescue!" called Dana, jumping through her pink medical shield.

"Time For…Time Force!" called Wes and Jen, crossing their wrists and holding down the switches on their morphers.

The nine Rangers flipped into position facing off against Globbor and an army of tengas. They took the battle stance and stood, waiting for the aliens to make the first move.

When Globbor finally raised his sword and the tengas approached, Tommy led the other Rangers into battle, executing a flying kick to the nearest tenga. He and Wes flipped over the tengas, landing just in front of Globbor, who raised his sword over his head, engaging the two rangers in battle.

Kim and Jen stood back-to-back, Kimberly with her Power Bow and Jen with her V-5, firing at the tengas in front of them. Kim fired off an arrow at one tenga, then brought her bow crashing down on the head of another, before using it to block the attack of a third. She side-kicked the tenga she just blocked, before righting her bow and pulling out another round of arrows for the next wave. Jen blasted two of the tengas with her V-5 before smashing the side of it into another one's head and bringing the weapon up to bear again. She and Kimberly rotated a quarter turn and repeated their actions.

Billy and Adam were using their side sabers and Blade Blasters to fend off attacks from the tengas. One tenga jumped up and attacked Billy at his shoulder. Billy elbowed him before executing a flip kick and firing his blaster. Adam tornado-kicked one tenga, blocked the attack of another with his saber, before blasting it away with his Blade Blaster.

Kendrix and Dana fought side-by-side, Dana using her Thermal Blaster and Kendrix using her new Power Launcher – a version of the Quasar Launcher she had used during her time with the Galaxy Rangers – to fend off the waves of tengas attacking. Kendrix used her Launcher like a staff, warding off the blows of the nearest tengas, before cocking it and blasting a powerful beam of energy from one end of the barrel at the same time that Dana delivered an uppercut to an attacking bird and brought her Thermal Blaster to bear, firing. Both tengas stiffened before exploding in a burst of black feathers.

"Fried Tenga, anyone?" Kendrix laughed, trading high fives with Dana before resuming the battle.

Trini blocked the advance of one tenga, blacked it again, and delivered an uppercut, sending the bird sprawling across the park. Another came behind her, grabbing her around the waist, but she launched herself up, flipped over its head and landed behind it before executing an under sweep and a punch to its sternum.

Tommy blocked the blow of Globbor's sword with Saba, pushing the weapon away to give Wes some room to deliver the roundhouse kick to the monster's chest.

Globbor growled, grabbing his chest. "You will pay for that, Power Geek!" he snarled, running at the Rangers with his arm outstretched. Tommy and Wes fell to their knees as the wave of dizziness overcame them. Globbor was using his energy-draining powers on the two men. They managed to roll out of his line of fire long enough to hear a scream that made their blood run cold.

They turned in time to see two tengas descending on Jen and Kim, lifting them up by their shoulders with powerful talons, and flying off with the two Pink Rangers. Kimberly and Jen were struggling to get loose, kicking their legs and hitting the talons with their fist, but to no avail. The tengas wouldn't let them go.

"Kim!" Tommy shouted, at the same time that Wes called Jen's name.

"Tommy! Wes!" the girls yelled back, struggling to free themselves.

"Let go of us, you featherbrains!" Kimberly shouted, clawing at the tenga that was carrying her.

Tommy and Wes began running after their girlfriends, but were dropped to their knees as another wave of Globbor's powers drained their energy. Glancing around, they noticed that all the Rangers had been hit by the energy-draining waves, before Globbor and the tengas disappeared.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Zordon, do we know where they were taken?" Tommy asked, after the Rangers had been teleported back to the Command Center and had regained some of their strength.

"I DO NOT SENSE EITHER KIMBERLY OR JENNIFER'S BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURES ANYWHERE," the mentor responded sadly.

"So, what, they're dead?" Wes asked fearfully.

"OR, MORE LIKELY, HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO ONE OF MASTER VILE'S DARK DIMENSIONS. UNFORTUNATELY, MY SENSORS CANNOT REACH ANY OF THEM, NOR CAN YOUR TELEPORTATION POWERS."

"We can't just give up trying to reach them, Zordon!" Trini cried.

"Perhaps I can determine where they are on the computers Kim and I created," Billy suggested. "They are rather powerful and have coordinates from every known dimension we have ever been trapped in. If I can input their genetic codes into the computer, I can program it to make a scan of those dimensions and the ones near them that we perhaps don't know about. It may take a couple hours, but it should give us an accurate reading."

"GO AHEAD, BILLY. GOOD LUCK."

Tommy nervously fingered the object in his pocket, thinking of Kimberly, when the sirens went off again. _What now?_ He thought irritably, turning to look at the screen with the others. What he saw froze him in his tracks.

Globbor and a small army of tengas had invaded a posh, private club in Baltimore and pulled Wes' father and Kimberly's mother and stepfather out of it, before disappearing with them into thin air.

"What the hell?" Wes asked, slamming his fist on one of the computer consoles. "Can this day get any worse?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: I know you waited forever for it, but there it is, and there should be another one out within the week. Yay! Good, bad, indifferent? Tell me what you think!


	6. A New Threat

Lavonne Adams: Thanks to your urgent request to find out what happens to the captives, I'm posting this a day or two earlier than I had otherwise intended. Enjoy!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Command Center

"I think it just got worse, Wes," Trini mentioned, pulling up several other screens around the Command Center. What they saw shocked them. In one screen, tengas were terrorizing the patrons of a restaurant in Angel Grove, until they reached their targets: Ju and Mei Kwan. In another, Andrew and Janet Oliver were being dragged from a movie theater by Elgar.

"Great!" Adam complained. "So Vile has teamed up with Divatox? Perfect!"

On a third screen, Porto had entered John Cranston's office and had grabbed him. The Rangers looked on in horror at the rest of the screens: Finster had a hold of Lilith Taylor; General Havoc had a hold of Daniel and Julia Scott; Rygog had a hold of Carlos and Zaigra DeSantos; a group of piranhatrons had grabbed Jonathan and Tamara Park; more piranhatrons had a hold of Marcus and Sabrina Hillard; a flock of tengas grabbed Randy and Danika Campbell; a pack of piranhatrons grabbed Bob and Marie Sloan; and another flock of tengas had grabbed Tyler Stewart.

"You had to ask, didn't you, Wes?" Billy remarked wryly, still typing away at the computer systems. His cell phone rang, and, distracted, he powered down and answered it. "William Cranston," he spouted off professionally, until his look changed dramatically. "Xander? Is everything alright?"

Billy had become the unofficial liaison between the original team and the Mystic Force team. Since he went to visit them the previous summer to invite them to Tommy's reunion party, the teenagers had looked to him for advice more than any of the other Rangers.

"I see," he answered, after listening to Xander's side of the conversation. "Why don't the five of you teleport to the Command Center; we think we may know who's got them. Yeah, see you in a few." He hung up the phone and turned to the other Rangers. "The kids' parents have disappeared, along with Udonna and the Knight Wolf Ranger, Leanbow," he explained grimly.

Moments later, the room lit up with red, yellow, green, pink, and blue columns of light. The light dispersed and Nick, Chip, Xander, Vida, and Madison materialized.

"TRINI AND KENDRIX, FIND OUT HOW MANY OTHER RANGER PARENTS HAVE BEEN TAKEN," Zordon commanded.

"Sure thing, Zordon," the women replied, attacking the computer consoles.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Vile's Dimension

"So, do we have _any_ idea where we are, Kim?" Jen asked, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

"Unfortunately, no," Kim replied dejectedly. "Master Vile came into the picture after my time as a Ranger and left before my evil stint on Muranthias. I've never dealt with him." She glanced up at the Time Force Ranger and frowned. "Are you cold?"

"A little. And it doesn't help that we de-morphed when we came here, and can't access our powers again. You're not?"

Kim shook her head. "Not really. I guess, after being trapped in these dimensions so many times, you just get used to them."

"_That's_ reassuring," Jen responded sarcastically, prompting both women to smile crookedly at each other.

"Billy will find us," Kim replied confidently. "I've never seen a person as capable on a computer as he is."

"What do you think this Vile guy wants with us, anyhow?" Jen asked.

Kim sighed. "Who knows?" She shrugged slightly, then turned her attention on her friend. "Whatever it is, it can't be pretty. I always seem to attract the attention of the evil males around me. First it was Goldar, Squatt, and Baboo – who all thought I was 'cute' – then it was Tommy, then –" she was cut short by Jen's voice.

"Tommy? Wasn't he on your team?"

Kim shook her head. "Not at first. He became a Ranger originally because Rita thought he would make a great Evil Green Ranger. Turns out, he makes a great Ranger, period. Anyhow, Lord Zedd was the last of the evil psychos to make a pass at me, even going so far as to try to make me his queen." She shuddered at the memory.

"Welcome, Pink Rangers," a sinister voice came from the doorway.

"Vile," Kimberly snarled.

"And I thought Ransik was ugly in his day," Jen quipped, slipping into battle stance next to Kimberly.

"Too kind, my dear; much too kind," Vile said tenderly. "I suppose you're wondering why I have invited you here."

"Thought crossed our minds," Kimberly muttered, regarding the alien warily.

"Although, personally, your use of the term 'invited' is a little loose, don't you think?" Jen finished.

"Well, it's quite simple, my dears. I intend to marry the two of you and raise the children you carry to be my heirs, to replace the ones you so thoughtlessly destroyed. In fact, I may just be tempted to create more heirs later, after the births of these two," he chuckled evilly, running a hand down Kimberly's arm.

"And if we refuse?" she rebuffed disgustedly.

Vile smiled menacingly. "I wouldn't if I were you, my sweet. I have a few…insurance policies…to ensure you do as I wish." He lifted his wand and a flock of tengas materialized. Jen also noticed that a pink cloud was beginning to seep into the chamber from the ground up.

"This smoke will take exactly one hour to fill the room," Vile explained. "Once it does, you will become mine, and your parents will die! I suggest you choose to join me freely; it will be better for everyone, all around if you do." With that, he disappeared.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Undisclosed Location

"Perhaps we should take a roll call to see exactly how many people are here," the millionaire suggested to his fellow captives. "I'm John Collins."

"My name is Pierre Dumas, and this is my wife Stephanie."

"I am Ju Kwan, and this is Mei."

"John Cranston."

"Dan and Julia Scott."

"Lily Taylor."

"Drew and Jan Oliver."

"Carlos and Zaigra DeSantos."

"Jon and Tammy Park."

"Randy and Dani Campbell."

"Mark and Sabrina Hillard."

"Bob and Marie Sloan."

"Tyler Stewart."

"Josh and Melinda Hammond."

"Bill Mitchell."

"Mike and Mary Winslow."

"Carter and Joanna Grayson."

"Vic and Sammy Rawlings."

"Sam and Vanessa Enrile."

"Shawn and Elizabeth Earhardt."

"Carl and Melissa Cooper."

"I am Kanoi Watanabe."

"Patrick and Erin Ford."

"Troy and Jane McKnight."

"Charlie and Diana James."

"Anton and Elsa Mercer."

"Parker and Sherry Russell."

"Mick and Sheila Bly."

"Evan and Louise Rocca."

"Charles and Elisa Thorn."

"My name is Udonna."

"And I am Leanbow."

"Great," Drew mentioned. "Now that we know everyone's names, does anyone know why the hell we've been brought here?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"SENSORS INDICATE THAT MASTER VILE IS HOLDING YOUR PARENTS HOSTAGE AS A FORM OF VENGEANCE, RANGERS."

"Vengeance?" Xander asked.

"YES, XANDER. VILE'S PLANS ARE TO DRAW YOU OUT INTO THE OPEN WHERE YOUR PARENTS WILL BE WAITING, BEFORE AMBUSHING YOU AND DESTROYING YOUR PARENTS."

"The way we destroyed his children," Aisha supplied. The other Rangers had gathered at the Command Center as the missing parent count had increased.

"THAT IS CORRECT, AISHA."

"But, I still don't understand where Kimberly and Jen fit into this," Tommy asked, confused.

"MY ONLY ASSUMPTION IS THAT HE WISHES TO REPLACE THE CHILDREN HE LOST WITH THE ONES THAT KIMBERLY AND JENNIFER WOULD SUPPLY HIM. THE OFFSPRING OF THE FALCON AND THE CRANE WOULD BE A POWERFUL ASSET TO HIS ARMY, AS WOULD THE OFFSPRING OF THE RED AND PINK TIME FORCE RANGERS."

"No way in hell is that asshole getting a hold of my child," Tommy avowed threateningly.

"I second that," Wes responded, just as fiercely.

"I found Kim and Jen!" Billy shouted from his computer. "They're in one of Vile's dimensions-" He was cut off by the sound of the attack siren.

The Rangers gathered around the screen to see what was happening, and were not-so-surprised to see Vile, Divatox, Elgar, Porto, General Havoc, and a literal _army_ of Tengas, Piranhatrons, Putty Patrollers, Z-Putty Patrollers, Putra Pods, and Robot Warriors surrounding all of the missing parents.

"I DISLIKE SAYING IT, BUT KIMBERLY AND JENNIFER WILL HAVE TO WAIT. YOUR PARENTS MORE URGENTLY REQUIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE AT THIS TIME, RANGERS. HOWEVER, BRING THEM BACK HERE WHEN YOU DO GET THEM BACK."

"Zordon, you can't honestly mean-" Jason began, but was cut off.

"IT IS TIME TO TELL THEM, JASON. IF THEY ARE TO BE TARGETED LIKE THIS, THEY DESERVE TO KNOW WHY. MANY OF THE PARENTS ALREADY KNOW. THE PARENTS OF LIGHTSPEED, AND THE MERCERS, FOR INSTANCE. GO NOW, RANGERS, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU."

Tommy nodded and turned to the others. "Ready, guys?"

"Ready!" everyone responded.

"Let's do it. It's Morphin' Time!"

"Black Frog!" called Adam.

"Blue Wolf!" called Billy.

"Yellow Bear!" called Aisha.

"Red Ape!" called Rocky.

"White Falcon!" called Tommy.

"Navy Chimp!" called Zack.

"Lavender Panther!" called Trini.

"Gold Lion!" called Jason.

"Coral Giraffe!" called Kat.

"Orange Zebra!" called Tanya.

"Forest Elk!" called Justin.

"Maroon Seal!" called Carlos.

"Pearl Robin!" called Ashley.

"Beige Gibbon!" called TJ.

"Peach Cheetah!" called Kendrix.

"Slate Deer!" called Cole.

"Bronze Eagle!" called Shane.

"Crimson Panda!" called Dustin.

"Midnight Jaguar!" called Hunter.

"Olive Hawk!" called Blake.

"Green Owl!" called Cam.

"Tan Malamute!" called Trent.

"Gray Elephant!" called Ethan.

"Golden Canary!" called Kira.

"Brick Gorilla!" called Conner.

"Go Galactic!" called Maya.

"Lightspeed Rescue!" called Carter, Dana, Joel, Kelsey, and Chad.

"Titanium Power!" called Ryan.

"White Rescue Power!" called Angela Rawlings.

"Black Rescue Power!" called Angela Taylor.

"Time For…Time Force!" called Wes, Lucas, Trip, and Katie.

"Quantum Power!" called Eric.

"Wild Access!" called Taylor, Alyssa, Max, Danny, and Merrick.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!" called Nick, Xander, Chip, Vida, and Madison.

The Rangers all flipped down into position. Despite having lost most of the original powers, they sounded off all their teams.

"Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers!" called Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, Aisha, and Tommy.

"Power Rangers Zeo!" called Rocky, Adam, Tanya, and Kat.

"Power Rangers Turbo!" called TJ, Carlos, Justin, and Ashley.

"Power Rangers Lost Galaxy!" called Maya.

"Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue!" called Carter, Dana, Joel, Kelsey, Chad, Ryan, Angela Rawlings, and Angela Taylor.

"Power Rangers Time Force!" called Wes, Lucas, Katie, Trip, and Eric.

"Power Rangers Wild Force!" called Cole, Taylor, Alyssa, Danny, Max, and Merrick.

"Power Rangers Ninja Storm!" called Shane, Dustin, Blake, Hunter, and Cam.

"Power Rangers Dino Thunder!" called Conner, Kira, Ethan, and Trent.

"Power Rangers Mystic Force!" called Nick, Xander, Chip, Vida, and Madison.

"Power Rangers, Unite!" they all called together, slipping into battle stance as a shower of sparks and colored dust exploded behind them.

"Very impressive, Rangers," Vile applauded. "Now meet my Rangers!" There was a rumbling, and a shower of pink sparks as Kimberly and Jen approached in armored versions of their uniforms, with their sabers in one hand, and new shields in the other.

"Beautiful," Tommy breathed. "Please don't tell me you…"

"Welcome, Rangers. So nice of you to come play with us," Kimberly said, in a voice Tommy, Adam, Kat, Justin, Tanya, and Jason hadn't heard since she had been under Maligore's spell on Muranthias.

"Oh, shit," Wes murmured.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Well, that went faster than I had planned. Yay! What did you guys think? Also, you'll notice that Andros, Zhane, Tori, Cassie, most of the Galaxy Rangers, Hayley, Alex, and the SPD Rangers weren't here. That was done because they are all on other planets or in the future, and it didn't seem convenient to have Zordon call them back. They'll make an appearance later in the story, though.


	7. Battle Pink Rangers

GinaStar: Interesting is a mild term, I think. I'm excited to find out what the parents will say, too. I may be the author, but everybody knows that these stories have minds of their own.

Blazing Fire: Thank you so much for all the reviews! You must have had quite a day of reading yesterday, since I noticed you had reviewed on _Rainbow of Friendship_, as well.

Chan-Valerte: Always great to hear from you! I'm glad you still enjoy the story; keep reading!

Slytherin-Angel44: And it's great to hear from you, too! I was debating about the whole spell thing for a really long time, but then decided it had been too long since any baddie had made a pass at Kim, and just to go with it. Hope you enjoy the results!

Jps1926: Yeah, I didn't see an evil Jen and Kim coming, either; it just sort of happened. Anyhow, hope you enjoy the results!

A/N: Just a warning: there is a character death in this chapter. And no, it's not Vile! I hadn't meant for this character to die, it just happened that way. You'd think, as the author, I'd get some say in this, but it just doesn't work out that way. Also, at someone's personal request, I am opening up my universe to other writers. If you have a story idea and would like a complete list of couples, their locations, and the rules for these stories, then please email me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Morphin', Zeo, Turbo, Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed, and Time Force," Tommy began. "You grab the goons. Wild Force, Ninja Storm, Dino Thunder, and Mystic Force, you grab the parents and teleport them back to the Command Center. Don't tell them yet why they've been taken there until we all meet later. Wes and I will grab Kim and Jen."

"Tommy, I don't want to fight against my fiancée," Wes argued.

"Which is why we're switching. You take Kimberly, and I'll take Jen. I'll explain why later."

"Tommy, may I make an observation?" Billy requested, glancing sideways at his leader and – hopefully – future brother-in-law.

"What's that, Bill?"

"I don't see either of my parents or my stepfather in that group."

Tommy glanced hurriedly through the mass of scared parents and, sure enough, did not see either of the Dumas' or Dr. Cranston. "Globbor's missing, too," he observed. "I'm sorry, Billy; unfortunately, there isn't anything we can do about it until we find out where they've been taken."

Billy would have responded, but was distracted by the onslaught of charging aliens. "You and Wes take care of Kim and Jen; we'll do our parts with Vile and Divatox," he responded instead.

Tommy and Wes nodded before flipping over the nearest Tengas, Putties, and Z-Putties and landing in front of Kim and Jen. The two Pink Rangers chuckled lowly before turning their attention to their male counterparts.

Zack, Billy, Trini, Aisha, Kat, Justin, Tanya, Carlos, Ashley, Maya, Kendrix, Dana, Chad, Joel, Kelsey, Angela Rawlings, Angela Taylor, Lucas, Trip, Katie, and Eric engaged the Putties, Z-Putties, Tengas, Piranhatrons, Putra Pods, and Robot Warriors in battle, allowing the other Rangers the ability to move through.

Once they had gotten past the foot soldiers, Jason and Rocky approached General Havoc, Adam and TJ approached Rygog, Carter approached Elgar, and Eric approached Porto. Master Vile and Divatox had escaped somewhere; presumably back to the moon.

The aliens lunged at their human counterparts, the Rangers dodging swords and blocking blows. Cole, Taylor, Max, Danny, Alyssa, Shane, Dustin, Tori, Cam, Blake, Hunter, Conner, Ethan, Kira, Trent, Nick, Xander, Chip, Madison, and Vida slipped past, occasionally blocking a stray punch or kick, stopping in front of the frightened parents.

"Don't worry," Shane assured them. "We'll get you guys somewhere safe." Each of the Rangers grabbed two parents, leaving Captain Mitchell, Mr. and Mrs. Winslow, Mr. and Mrs. Grayson, Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings, Sensei, Dr. and Mrs. Mercer, Udonna, and Leanbow behind for the moment.

Jason and Rocky executed twin side kicks to either side of Havoc's face before flipping backwards and pulling out their weapons – Rocky using his Ninjetti Swords, and Jason using his new Power Staff – to ward off the blows created by General Havoc's sword. Jason rammed his staff into Havoc's stomach before smashing the end of it into the side of the alien's skull. Havoc raised his arm and fired an energy beam, sending the former Red Ranger flying. Rocky picked up the slack and brought his swords down on Havoc's shoulders, pulling them down amid a shower of sparks.

Kat was struggling with four footmen surrounding her: Tengas had hold of both her arms, and a Z-Putty and a Robot Warrior were closing in on her from the front. The Robot Warrior punched her in the gut, causing her to bowl over momentarily, but she recovered quickly and executed a split sit-kick, knocking out the Z-Putty and the Robot Warrior, before flipping the Tengas over her hands and soccer-kicking first one, then the other.

Tommy blocked Jen's double-edged Chrono Saber with Saba in one hand and his Ninjetti Saber in the other. Trying to use only enough force to defend himself and not actually harm Jen was difficult, especially when she was frustrating him beyond belief with her shield – none of his blows were getting through. Jen raised her Chrono Saber and sent an energy beam towards Tommy, who dodged out of the way.

"Looks like it's time to fight fire with fire," he muttered darkly. "Saba, do you think you can even the score a bit?"

"Absolutely, Tommy," the saber responded, shooting energy beams from his eyes. Jen's shield flew out of her hands, landing at the edge of the quarry.

"You will pay for that, White Ranger," Jen growled, separating her Chrono Sabers and lunging at Tommy.

Wes, with his Chrono Sabers in lance-mode, blocked Kimberly's saber with one end of his weapon, then the other, before pushing her saber away and ramming his lance into her shield. She jumped back, regained her footing, and sent an energy beam from her shield that Wes rolled away from.

"Give up, Red Ranger," Kim warned. "Your fight is hopeless."

"Come on, Kim; snap out of it!" Wes shouted. "You of all people should know that the fight is _never_ hopeless."

"I didn't realize how much it really is until Master Vile showed me the error of my ways. He can do the same for you, if you will let him," she offered seductively.

"Never! I would die before I would betray Tommy, Jen, or my team that way," he answered forcefully.

"That can be arranged!" She sent another energy beam towards him, sending him sprawling. When he lifted his head, Tommy was beside him, helping to pull him up. He noticed that all the parents had been teleported back, and the Rangers were finally making headway with the aliens.

He also noticed that Kimberly and Jennifer were now standing side-by-side, facing him and Tommy. They had their sabers crossing their chests, double-fisting the handles.

"Pink Ranger Energy Strike!" they heard the women shout. "Fire!" Jen and Kim extended their sabers, bolts of pink energy shooting from the tips of their weapons. Wes and Tommy braced for impact, but it never happened. Glancing up, they noticed that the energy beams were being directed into Chip's Mystic Wand, and from there, as lightning bolts into the ground.

Eventually, the Rangers heard a gurgling and felt a slight rumbling of the ground beneath them. It was so loud that even Kim and Jen stopped shooting from their sabers and glanced around, trying to find the source of the disruption.

An upwelling of water emerged from the hole in the ground that Chip's lightning bolts had created, and Madison took her place. She raised her wand and the water spouted up, washing over Jen and Kim. Madison concentrated all her energy on the water, willing her magic to work.

Kim and Jen fell down, sputtering and coughing as the fountain of water stopped and Madison took a hesitant step forward, as the remaining aliens disappeared and the remaining Rangers approached. Kim noticed and turned towards the Blue Mystic Ranger. "Neat trick," she commented wryly. "You'll have to teach me how you do that sometime."

"Count me in on that lesson," Jen muttered, swiping the water off her uniform as best she could.

"Beautiful?" Tommy asked.

"Babe?" Wes echoed.

Kim stood up and shuddered. "Tommy, I'm so sorry! I should have-" But she didn't get a chance to tell him what she should have done because he had taken two steps forward and hauled her into his arms; Wes doing the same with Jen.

"It's OK, Beautiful," Tommy soothed. "It's not your fault. But we can talk about this later because we still have a few alien asses to kick," he added, joking.

"Yeah, too bad Vile's back on the moon, though; I'd like to kick his ass for what he's done to us," Jen responded.

"And, oh shit, Tommy; my parents!" Kim shrieked. "Globbor took them at Vile's insistence, to be the first ones to be…to be…" She didn't finish her thought, but the others could tell what she was thinking.

"Did he say where he was taking them, Kim?" Billy asked, stepping forward and placing an arm around his sister's shoulders.

Kim nodded. "The cave, on the other side of the quarry," she replied, pointing.

Tommy, Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, Kimberly, Jen and Wes headed that way, after Tommy had sent the remaining Rangers back to the Command Center.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The eight Rangers entered the cave slowly, not wanting to alert Globbor yet that they were wise to his location. What they saw shocked them. John Cranston and Stephanie Dumas were at one side, John helping Stephanie up off the floor. Pierre had obviously just pushed her out of the way and was now caught in the line of Globbor's energy-draining powers, and the monster's power was too much for the painter to withstand. Before the Rangers could pull out their Blade Blasters and Chrono Blasters, Pierre crumpled on the ground, unconscious.

"No!" shouted Stephanie, trying to run to his side, but John was holding her tight.

The sound of firepower from the entrance of the cave turned the monster's attention from the parents to the Rangers bringing their weapons to bear again. Globbor noticed the two Pink Rangers among them and narrowed his eyes.

"You two!" he grumbled. "I shall deal with you in a moment, you traitorous vixens!" He raised his sword again, but it was shot out of his hands by Billy, who was on the very end of the line of Rangers and had a decent shot at the monster.

"It's over, Globbor," Tommy announced, taking a step forward. He brought Saba to bear and shot white energy from the saber's eyes. Jason stepped forward and blasted a shot of gold light from the end of his staff. Trini brought out her stun guns and shot bolts of energy through the cords into the monster. Zack tossed his hatchets, striking Globbor in the sternum. Billy and Wes used their lances to strike at the monster, leaving him slightly disoriented.

Kim and Jen stood together, glanced at each other, and nodded. Noticing their uniforms had gone back to their regular forms, they summoned the new forms given to them by Master Vile.

"Pink Rangers, Power Up!" they called. Their uniforms glowed pink for a moment before materializing as the armored versions and shields they had been wearing shortly before.

"Pink Rangers, Energy Strike!" they called again, extending their sabers and sending a jolt of pink energy directly into the monster. "Saber Swipe!" they finished, their sabers now glowing with pink energy and arcing up, around, and back down through Globbor, destroying him amid a shower of sparks and dust.

Billy ran over to Pierre, feeling for a pulse through his uniform. Sadly, he shook his head. Tommy grabbed Stephanie as she began to faint, Trini grabbed John, and Billy picked up Pierre, before they all teleported back to the Command Center.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Now that we're all here," Drew was shouting, "Will someone please tell us what the _hell_ is going on?"

"CALM DOWN, DR. OLIVER," Zordon instructed, materializing behind the parents. Drew turned around and went pale.

"Wh-wh-who are you? And h-h-how do you know my name?" he stuttered.

"I think I can answer that," Tommy replied, stepping forward and removing his helmet. The parents of his teams gasped.

"Dr. Oliver," Patrick Ford began. "You're a Power Ranger?"

"Tommy, how could you not have told us?" Jan asked, tears welling in her eyes.

"It's not his fault, Mrs. Oliver," Kimberly defended, removing her own helmet and taking Tommy's hand in hers. "One of our rules as Rangers was to never reveal to anyone the identities of the Power Rangers. We had to keep it a secret."

"That all changed when you became targets," Billy supplied, removing his own helmet.

"Billy! Kimberly!" John Cranston began. "Not you two!"

"Sorry, Dad," Kimberly nodded. "But we've actually been Rangers longer than Tommy has."

One by one, the Rangers removed their helmets. Most of the parents, like the Olivers, Dr. Cranston, and Mrs. Dumas, were shocked to find out that their children were Rangers. Others, such as Anton and Elsa Mercer, Sensei, and the parents of the Lightspeed Rangers weren't as astonished, since they already knew.

"Don't you ever get tired of the fighting and the horrible things you see?" Drew wanted to know. The parents had moved past shock and were now seriously trying to understand their children's decisions in life.

Kimberly fielded that question. "I can honestly say that I have never regretted my decision to become a Power Ranger. In fact, the only regret I have is that we didn't get to that cave sooner. Mom, I'm sorry," her voice broke. "Pierre might still be here if I hadn't-"

"Kimberly Elizabeth Cranston, I want you to stop blaming yourself now!" Tommy said forcefully. "What happened tonight was _not_ your fault. The _only_ ones to blame are Vile and Divatox."

"Tommy's right, sweetheart. You may be a superhero, but you're still only human, after all," Stephanie reminded her daughter. "What happened to Pierre tonight isn't your fault."

"And besides, I would need to share that blame with you," Jen finished. "I was turned evil just like you were."

"TOMMY AND MRS. DUMAS ARE CORRECT, KIMBERLY; NO ONE IS TO BLAME FOR YOUR STEPFATHER'S UNTIMELY DEMISE EXCEPT FOR MASTER VILE. IT WAS HIS MONSTER THAT TOOK HIS LIFE; IT WAS HIS SPELL THAT TURNED YOU AND JENNIFER EVIL. THIS WAS NOT YOUR FAULT."

"And if you hadn't have gotten there when you did," Dr. Cranston added, "Who knows how many more people would have been killed? You saved lives today, Kimberly. I'm proud of you, honey."

"Zordon, I think we should have the parents stay here for a few days," Billy suggested. "We don't know if Vile will try to take our parents again, and with Pierre already…I just don't think we should take chances with any more lives."

"THAT IS A WISE SUGGESTION, WILLIAM," Zordon approved. "HOWEVER, THE DECISION MUST COME FROM THE PARENTS. WE, OF COURSE, CANNOT FORCE YOU TO STAY ANYWHERE YOU DO NOT WISH, BUT YOU WILL BE SAFE HERE, AND THE GROUNDS ARE EXTENSIVE. KIMBERLY, ADAM, AND WILLIAM BUILT THE BUILDING; THERE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH ROOM FOR ALL OF YOU."

One by one, the parents agreed to stay, and Billy went to show them around the building. "You coming, Kim?" he asked, when he saw his sister still standing in front of Zordon.

"KIMBERLY WILL JOIN YOU SHORTLY, WILLIAM; I WISH TO SPEAK WITH HER PRIVATELY FOR A MOMENT," Zordon replied. Billy looked at them quizzically for a moment, but finally nodded and left.

Once everyone had finally left them alone, Zordon turned his attention to Kimberly, who had taken a major interest in the shoes she had chosen to wear to dinner that evening. Had it only been a few hours before that she had been out to dinner with her mother and Pierre, celebrating their anniversary?

"STOP, KIMBERLY. YOU CANNOT CHANGE WHAT HAPPENED; DWELLING ON IT WILL ONLY MAKE YOUR GUILT COMPOUND. OTHERS DO NOT BLAME YOU, THEREFORE YOU SHOULD NOT BLAME YOURSELF."

"I'll keep that in mind, Zordon," Kimberly sighed, a lone tear making its way down her cheek.

"HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT THE REASON I ASKED YOU TO STAY BEHIND."

Her gaze shot up at that statement. "It's not?" she asked, puzzled. "Then, why?"

"I HAVE A REQUEST TO MAKE. BEHIND YOU IS A BOX. OPEN IT."

She did as he requested and found seven small, lead boxes inside. She opened one of them up and was astonished to find six gold coins in them. Zordon waited patiently while she inspected them, then smiled gently when her gasp told him that she had discovered that they were the old Dino Power Coins, and Tommy's Dragon Power Coin.

Glances in the other boxes showed discoveries just as astonishing: the Zeo Crystals and Zeonizers; the Turbo Morphers; the Astro Morphers; one of the Wild Force's Growl Phones; Ninja Storm's Ninja Discs, Wind Morphers, Thunder Discs, Thunder Morphers, and Samurai Amulet; and seven gems of assorted colors.

"What do you want me to do with all these, Zordon?" she finally asked, when she found her voice.


	8. Of Breakfast and Dino Gems

Jps1926: I tried to make it so that the Oliver Guilt Complex wasn't the only one around. Anyhow, yeah, poor Pierre. I felt bad about killing him off, and I tried to go back and change it, but the story just wouldn't let me. I think it has something else in mind, but it's not letting me know what it is yet.

Slytherin-Angel44: The morphers thing I have been thinking about since about the middle of _Rainbow_, but an opportunity to use them never presented itself until now. Yay!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Very early, December 17, 2006 (or very late, December 16, 2006)

Kimberly made her way into the living room of the Command Center. She had stopped in her lab on the way down and locked the boxes of various morphers in her office; she would begin Zordon's project in the morning. For the moment, however, all she wanted to do was sleep. It was now nearly 4 AM; they had received Zordon's dinner interruption at 8:30 the night before.

She smiled as she entered the room; piles of blankets and pillows were strewn everywhere, and all the Rangers were milling around in various forms of pajamas. Apparently she and Tommy weren't the only ones to have left a few clothes here after the reunion in August. Speaking of Tommy, she glanced around the room and noticed him laying down a blanket on one end of one of the couches. Jen and Wes were doing the same on the other end of the same couch.

Tommy looked up and, noticing her quizzical look, explained. "Everyone decided that it would be easier just to crash here rather than actually going home. Since the parents are in the bedrooms, we've confiscated the living room." Kim nodded and grabbed the pink and white flannel pants and white tank top Tommy had picked out for her and headed into the bathroom to change.

"So Kim, what did Zordon want?" Jason asked once she had come back into the room.

"He has a small project for me; nothing too major," she replied vaguely. Zordon had asked her to keep his request a secret; she didn't understand why, but she respected his judgment enough to obey. Absently, she held up Tommy's suit. "Babe," she grinned, "you're as bad about hanging your suits up here as you are in the bungalow."

She folded the trousers in half, then slung them over her arm, when a small _thump_ caught her attention. Bending down, she picked up the small piece of metal that had fallen out of the pocket and gasped when she did. In her hand was a platinum ring with a large pink diamond set in a band of smaller alternating pink and white diamonds.

"Tommy?" she mewed, not trusting her voice at the moment. Vaguely, she was aware that activity in the room had stopped and everyone was watching her, but she kept her attention trained on the man now standing in front of her.

"We had planned on asking you and Trini at dinner tonight – well, last night, I guess – and then Zordon called, and the battle, and then you and Jen had that spell put on you," Tommy was babbling. "Anyway, Billy and I decided to wait until things had mellowed here before asking you, to give you some time. And I still will. I mean, I definitely would understand if you decided you needed time, with everything that's happened tonight-"

"Yes," she stated, still too numb to say more than one word.

Tommy nodded dejectedly. "OK. I understand." He started to turn around and head back to the couch, but Kimberly dropped his clothes and grabbed his arm.

"No, Tommy," she finally managed to say, "I mean, _yes_," she emphasized, gesturing to the ring.

Understanding dawned in Tommy's face as he finally grasped that she had just accepted his really horrible proposal. "Yes?"

Kim nodded. "Yes," she said quietly, a small smile playing at her mouth and her eyes full of love for this man she adored.

Tommy grabbed her, one hand behind her neck and one around her waist, and pulled her in for a kiss. What had started out as a simple peck, however, soon became much more as Tommy's tongue requested and was granted entrance to Kim's mouth. They finally released each other when they realized the entire room was catcalling them.

Sheepishly, Kim pulled away, her face as red as Tommy's pajama bottoms. Tommy, however – more relieved that she had said yes than embarrassed about their PDA – grabbed her left hand in his left and the ring in his right and dropped to one knee.

"Kimberly, I love you. I've loved you for thirteen years, and I'll keep on loving you for the rest of my life. You're my best friend, my teammate, my lover, the mother of my child. You are most truly my better half. Will you marry me?" Kim, tears running unchecked down her cheeks, knelt down in front of him.

"As long as you promise me that no matter what we do, we do it as equals," she replied, grinning. Tommy smiled and kissed her before sliding the ring over her knuckle until it nestled in place at the base of her third finger. The room applauded as Tommy stood up, helping Kimberly along with him and pulling her to his side as he made his way back to the couch.

Kimberly, remembering something Tommy had said, stood still for a moment. "What was all that about Billy and Trini?" she asked, confused. At Tommy's bland look, her face flushed again and she looked down, embarrassed. "Oh."

"Thanks a lot, Tommy," Billy muttered, sliding off the couch he had been sitting on with Trini and making his way to his suit that was hanging on the door. He pulled a small jeweler's box out of his jacket pocket and made his way back to Trini.

"Trini, after what happened tonight, with our parents being kidnapped, and Kim and Jen turning evil, and my stepfather…well, I was going to wait before asking you this, but certain events," he shot a glare at Tommy, who had settled back on his couch with Kimberly snuggled into his side, "have forced my hand. And I realize: I don't mind that it's been forced, because I would have ended up asking you tomorrow anyhow, unable to wait any longer."

He took a deep breath and continued on. "When I thought you had died, a part of me died, too. I want to spend the rest of my life taking care of you; not because you need protection, but because I won't survive another separation. I love you; I've loved you for as long as I can remember. You and I understand one another better than even my twin sister and I do."

"Yeah, and they switched bodies, too," Jason pointed out, sniggering. Dana elbowed him in the side.

Billy glared at his former leader before turning his attention back to Trini. "I'd like to know if you'd do me the honor of allowing me to be your husband." He opened the box and handed it to her, waiting nervously for her answer.

Trini glanced at the ring and yelped, a tear slipping down her cheek. When she, Billy, Kimberly, Jason, and Zack had still been in junior high, the guys had asked her and Kimberly what their ideal engagement rings would look like. Kimberly had replied with a single diamond solitaire, but Trini's had been different. She had never liked diamonds, so she had wanted a pearl surrounded by tiny sapphires. She had seen a ring like that in an antique store and had fallen in love with it.

This ring was the spitting image, with the exception that the 10 mm pearl in the center of the circle of sapphires was lavender, not white, and the band was set with inlaid lavender pearls. "You remembered," she whispered, crying softly.

"Well, it's not exactly what you wanted," he replied. "The pearl is a different color, and the gems are actually blue diamonds and not sapphires, but-"

"It's perfect," she assured him. "Absolutely perfect."

"So is that a yes?" he asked, tilting his head and grinning at her.

She laughed and swatted him. "That's a hundred yeses, Billy!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. "I love you."

"I love you," he responded, removing the ring from its case and placing it at the tip of her finger. He glanced at her, the question still in his eyes, and at her almost imperceptible nod, he slid the ring into its place at the base of her finger.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kimberly awoke with a start, wondering why she and Tommy were asleep on the couch rather than in their bedroom. And suddenly the events of the past twelve hours returned to her in full force. She held up her left hand to see if she had been dreaming and, sure enough, there was the ring, right on her finger. She turned her gaze to the man that had her locked in his embrace and realized there was a reason he was holding her so tightly.

He was lying on his back, his head propped on the arm of the sofa, with his legs dangling off the middle cushion. She was perched precariously on the edge of the seat, lying on her side, her front tucked against his waist, with her legs flat on the middle seat. Another glance across the sofa showed Wes and Jen in mirror positions to hers and Tommy's.

Jen was waking up, too.

Gingerly, Kimberly removed Tommy's arm from around her waist and eased her arm from under his back. Slowly, she placed both hands on the floor behind her and, with the ease born of years of gymnastics training, pushed against the back of the sofa with her feet, back flipping into a standing position. Jen did the same, and the two wordlessly left the living room.

On the way to the kitchen to make some coffee, Kim looked down at her watch and grimaced. 6:30. Great. She and Jen had gotten less than two hours of sleep after having been up for nearly 24 hours the day before. From the look on her friend's face, Jen was aware of this fact, too.

The two entered the kitchen; Kim headed for the cupboard with the coffee grounds and Jen opened the refrigerator to start breakfast. They both stopped at the same time. There was no food in the kitchen; everything had been cleaned out months earlier after the reunion, to prevent spoiling.

"You still have the Commander here, right?" Jen asked, remembering the green car from the week of the reunion.

Kim smiled. "Jen, you're a genius! We'll just run and get stuff for breakfast for now; we can buy groceries later." The two headed back into the living room, pulled their clothing from the neatly folded piles they had been placed in the previous evening, and ran into the bathroom to grab a couple of quick showers. Once they were clean and changed, they grabbed their purses and headed up to the main level. On the way out, they informed Zordon of where they'd be in case anyone woke up and asked for them, then they left.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

An hour and a half later, Jen and Kim were back at the Command Center, carting boxes of assorted breakfast items to the backyard to be arranged once everything was there. Kim ran down to the kitchen to fetch the coffee pot and noticed Tommy, Billy, and Trini in the kitchen, rummaging through cupboards. Kim snuck up behind them, wrapping her arms around Tommy's waist and snuggling into his back.

She felt a low rumble in Tommy's chest from his silent laughter. "Good morning, Beautiful," he murmured. He turned around, wrapped his arms around her waist, and bent his head for a kiss.

"So, uh, when's the wedding?" came an amused voice from the doorway. The two couples turned their heads and noticed Jason and Zack standing there, shaking their heads at the two lovebirds.

"Actually, Tommy and I spoke to Jen and Wes about this, and they suggested that we share their wedding day," Billy mentioned.

"They haven't set a date yet," Trini pointed out.

"Guys, can we talk about this a little bit later?" Tommy asked. "I need to find some form of caffeine before I can make an intelligent decision for anything."

"Go do your workout, get showered and dressed, Handsome," Kim suggested. "Jen and I have breakfast waiting in the backyard. I just have to grab the pot, and then we'll have coffee, too."

Tommy gave her a quick kiss on the mouth before dashing toward the elevator. "I'll join him," Jason, Billy, and Zack announced, following their leader.

Trini and Kim giggled before grabbing the coffee pot and heading back upstairs. Once they reached the backyard, Trini set up the pot and measured out the grounds, Jen placed the frittatas under warmers and the fruit trays, lox, cream cheese, orange juice, milk, and yogurt in shallow ice bins, and Kimberly set out trays of pastries.

Since there was such a large number of people – more than a hundred this time – they had bought a variety of items. There was four dozen butter croissants, three dozen chocolate croissants, two dozen cheese and apple Danish, three sheets of coffee cake, four dozen assorted muffins, three dozen assorted scones, three dozen plain bagels, eight dozen assorted donuts, one dozen cinnamon rolls, one dozen orange sticky buns, four fruit trays, two large frittatas, lox, cream cheese, jam, yogurt, granola, milk, orange juice, tea, and coffee. Trini finished with the coffee and hot water and set out paper plates, napkins, cups, and silverware.

The guys must have let everyone know where food was to be found because by the time everything had been set up, people were beginning to trickle out, ready to eat.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Kim, we need to think about going grocery shopping," Jason pointed out. He, Dana, Tommy, Kim, Billy, Trini, Wes, Jen, Mr. Collins, Dr. Cranston, Mrs. Dumas, Captain Mitchell, and Dr. and Mrs. Oliver were seated at one of the picnic benches in the back, munching on their breakfasts. Okay, so Mrs. Dumas was more pushing the food around her plate, but the others were eating.

Kimberly nodded at Jason's announcement. "I know. Jen and I didn't have time to get anything other than breakfast things this morning, and I have to start on that project that Zordon wants, so I won't be able to go. But I can give my card to Dana, Jen, or Trini, and they can go shopping with a couple of girls."

"I've got a better idea," Mr. Collins was saying. "How about you keep your card, and I give Jen my card and she can take one or two of the girls of her choice?"

"Mr. Collins, I can't let you do that!" Kim pronounced. "The Command Center is my baby; everything it has ever needed I've bought for it. Believe me, buying food for Ranger parents isn't a big deal. Besides, you're guests here, and guests don't pay for their own food."

Mr. Collins grinned. "Then don't think of it as a guest buying his own food; think of it as a wealthy man investing in the Power Rangers."

"You already invested in the Power Rangers the day Wes was born," Tommy pointed out.

"And the day you took Eric under your wing," Jason added.

"Kids, please? Let me do this," the older man insisted. Kimberly regarded him for long moments before resignedly nodding her head. She glanced at Jen and grinned wryly.

"The keys are in my purse."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kimberly was locked up in her lab, all seven lead boxes arranged before her. She had Tommy's Dragon Power Coin in her hand and was regarding it thoughtfully.

_What was Zordon thinking?_ She asked herself for the millionth time in the last two hours. _I can't find ways to bring all these powers back! That's more Billy's area of expertise._

She glanced over at the box with the seven gems in it and sighed. Intellectually, she knew that these were the Dino Gems that had powered the Dino Thunder team. However, there had only been five Rangers on that team, and there were seven gems here. And two of the gems were glowing. Shit. She picked up the green one and placed it under her microscope. Grinning to herself, she mused that if kryptonite were a real substance, this is probably what it would look like.

She placed the green one back in the box and picked up the pink one. It glowed even brighter once she touched it, and she could feel the energy pulsing through the rock. _Lovely_, she thought. _It likes me._

Suddenly, inspiration hit. She placed the Pink Dino Gem back in its box and picked up Tommy's Dragon Coin. Swiveling around, she rummaged in a cupboard underneath a lab bench and pulled out the item that had been sitting in there since she had rescued Trini and Zordon from Zedd's moon palace in August.

_I hope this works,_ she thought wryly, looking around for a Bunsen lighter.


	9. Family Crisis

Gigletrig: Yeah, unfortunately, you have to wait to find out what happens. But don't worry; you don't have to wait very long.

Jps1926: It'll all come out in this chapter (I think) about what Zordon's up to with the morphers.

GinaStar: Yup, we have a new pink Dino Ranger. Yay! The new green one will be announced in the next couple chapters.

A/N: This will be a crossover fic beginning this chapter. The characters of Janet Evanovich's _Stephanie Plum_ series will be coming to play. Usual disclaimers apply: I don't own them; I only use them for my enjoyment – and hopefully yours, as well. Enjoy!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

December 17, 2006

_Yes!_ Kimberly thought as her computer showed Tommy's Dragon Coin online with its power source. _One down, thirty-three to go._ Sighing, she pulled the other five Power Coins toward her. Not wanting to deal with them yet, she pushed them away and pulled Ninja Storm's morphers toward her.

Tapping her chin, she seemed to recall a team-up with the Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder teams a couple of years before. Turning back to her computer, she pulled up her history of the Power Rangers; a couple of keystrokes later and she had the scene with Shane, Dustin, and Tori fighting with Conner, Ethan, and Kira.

_Wait, did Cam just hand the Ninja Discs to Shane, Dustin, and Tori?_ She thought to herself. _But they already had them, didn't they?_ She continued watching until she noticed what was going on. Cam, Hunter, and Blake were pretending to be evil to earn the others' trust. She stopped the film when she noticed the three Wind Rangers discard something out of their morphers and replace them with their Ninja Discs. She zoomed in and almost let out a shout of triumph.

_So that's why their Ninja Discs have no power left,_ she thought wryly. _Lothor took all the power out of them and placed it in those three copies._ Then the thought hit her that she needed to find those replica discs. But she couldn't do it on her own.

Sighing, she called Zordon on her communicator.

"IS ANYTHING THE MATTER, KIMBERLY?" the mentor asked, concerned.

"Not really, Zordon," she replied, shaking her head. "I just realized that I need to teleport to Reefside to find a potential source of power for the Ninja Storm team, but I won't be able to do it on my own."

"WHO DID YOU WISH TO TAKE?"

Kimberly thought about that question for a moment, debating. There was any number of geniuses on the various teams that would be happy to help her, but not all of them would work. Hayley, for instance. Obviously, the Gold Lightspeed Ranger wouldn't do her much good if she was a thousand years in the future.

Billy would be an excellent choice; he was smart, an inventor, and knew intimately the delicate balance needed to successfully fuse a morpher with its power source. But, since he had been on Aquitar at the time of their term in the saddle, he didn't know enough of the source of Ninja Storm's power to be really helpful. Ditto for Kendrix, since she had been on Mirinoi at the time. That left only one person she could really think of to help.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Rangers were still in the backyard, relaxing with their parents before they were to leave that afternoon. Cam was sitting under a tree, chatting quietly with his father, Ashley, and her parents, when his communicator beeped.

Confused, he answered it. "What is it, Zordon?"

"CAMERON, MAY I SPEAK TO YOU PRIVATELY FOR A MOMENT?" the wizard's voice boomed through the wrist device.

"Sure; be right there." He apologized to the others, explained he'd be right back, and ran into the building. Once he arrived in the Command Center, he turned his attention to Zordon's energy tube.

"CAMERON, THANK YOU FOR COMING. YOU ARE AWARE THAT I HAVE KIMBERLY WORKING ON A SMALL PROJECT FOR ME, CORRECT?" At the Ninja Ranger's brief nod, Zordon continued. "I HAVE HER WORKING ON A METHOD TO BRIEFLY RETRIEVE THE RANGERS' LOST POWERS. SHE IS WORKING ON YOUR TEAM'S POWERS NOW AND HAS FOUND A WAY TO RESTORE YOUR POWERS, BUT SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP TO RETRIEVE THE SOURCE OF THE POWER."

Cam nodded. "Of course, Zordon. Whatever I can do to help, I will. Where can I find her?"

"SHE HAS CONFISCATED HER LABORATORY FOR THIS TASK."

Chuckling, Cam headed for the elevator that would take him down to the Med Bay and Kimberly's office and lab.

"Hi, Kim," he greeted her as he entered the brightly-lit room where Kimberly was bent over a microscope.

"Cam, hi," Kim smiled as she glanced up at the Green Ranger. "Zordon told you what he has me doing, right?" At his nod, she continued. "Great. Here's what I've got so far and what I want to do today." She outlined her plan to him before gathering the items she would need and the two teleported out of the building.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The two Rangers landed in Reefside, under the bridge where the Wind Rangers had battled the Dino Thunder Rangers.

"Man, blast from the past," Cam murmured, glancing around. "You do realize it's highly unlikely the discs are still here, right? I mean, that battle was two years ago; anyone could have picked them up and taken them home by now!"

"I know," Kim replied perkily, "but I'm holding out hope that the obvious answer isn't really the right answer in this case. We may as well search the area so we can scratch it off the list of possibles."

An hour later and Kim had to admit that the discs were not there anymore. She sighed dejectedly as she patted her hand over her hair, making sure it was still up in its French braid and the tail was tucked under at the base of her skull. She adjusted her glasses and let her arm fall back to her side. She was about to suggest that they head to the Cyberspace for something to eat, when the Wonder Woman Theme blared out of her cell phone.

"Sorry, that's my cousin. She wouldn't call if it wasn't important," Kim apologized, reaching for her phone. "Steph? What's wrong? No, I'm sure that…no…she did what?! Calm down, Steph…Stephanie, listen to me…no, I'm sure he's…fine, I'll be there as soon as I can…bye."

"Problem?" Cam asked, eyebrows raised.

Kim nodded. "Slight family emergency. My Uncle Frank is in the hospital. My aunt and cousins are freaking. I should go talk to Mom and Billy about this."

"By the way, Kim – Wonder Woman?" Cam looked slightly amused at her ringtone choice.

"Long story…she's a bounty hunter who thinks she's Wonder Woman. I'll explain later." They scanned the area to make sure they were clear and teleported back to the Command Center.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Half an hour later Kim, Tommy, Billy, Trini, and Kim and Billy's parents were gathered in front of Zordon.

"So how is this uncle related to you again?" Tommy asked, his head tilted to one side.

"Uncle Frank is married to Aunt Ellen. Aunt Ellen is Mom's twin sister," Kim replied. "Sheesh! I'm surprised the news that I'm a twin surprised me as much as it did; they freaking run in the family!"

"Ellen has two children: Valerie and Stephanie," Stephanie continued. "Steph was named after me, obviously. What happened to Frank, Kimberly? Why is he in the hospital?"

Kim snickered. "Grandma Mazur shot him," she replied, giggling.

"She did what?" Tommy, Billy, Trini, Stephanie, and John shouted simultaneously.

"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction," Kim answered. "Apparently, Steph had invited her cop friend, Joe, to dinner with her parents. Grandma had just bought a new 9 mm and wanted to show it off and well, Uncle Frank was in the line of fire when she was pointing out the trigger. The gun's safety wasn't on at the time."

Stephanie tilted her head up and made the sign of the cross. "Why me?" she asked quietly.

Kim turned her grin on Tommy. "Do you see now why I consider your family _normal_? Be thankful you don't live in my screwy world."

"I will live in that screwy world shortly," he replied, taking her hand and twisting the ring that lay on her finger. "Do you want me and Trini to come with?" he asked, suddenly serious.

Kim thought about it for a moment and glanced at Billy before shrugging and shaking her head. "No, we should be OK. We'll call you if we want you to come down." Stephanie had already decided she would stay at the Command Center unless the situation was more serious than it sounded. No sense in taking the chance that Vile would finish what he had started with Pierre. Speaking of whom…

Billy apparently read her mind about their stepfather, because he turned his gaze on Tommy. "If you and some of the other guys could arrange Pierre's funeral, though, we would appreciate it," he requested.

Tommy glanced at his friend and nodded sympathetically. "Sure, no problem, bro."

Billy and Kimberly teleported back to Baltimore to pick up her Expedition before making the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Trenton. Then, on an impulse, Kim ran back into the kitchen and picked up the plate on the counter, slid the contents of the plate into a large Tupperware container and snapped on the lid. She grabbed the cardboard box also sitting on the counter, placed it on top of the Tupperware, pulled a box of disposable silverware and a bag of paper plates out of the cabinet, and headed back out to the car. She had a feeling she would need them.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

As they took the off-ramp into Trenton and Kim pointed her Expedition in the direction of the Chambersburg section of town, she turned to Billy.

"St. Francis is just a few blocks up, if I remember right, but we need to make a quick stop before we go there," she mentioned, turning into a parking lot and killing the engine. Billy glanced up and took in the white building with the white-and-red striped valance over the window where "Tasty Pastry" was scrawled in giant red script.

He and Kim entered the building and immediately they were assaulted with smells of cookies and pies and cakes. The man behind the counter glanced up at them and did a double take when he saw Kim.

"I remember you," he grinned. "Little Kimberly! Stephanie Mazur's daughter."

"That's right," Kim nodded. "How've you been, Mr. Antonelli?"

"Not bad, not bad," he replied, nodding. "Heard about your uncle. That's a damn shame." He was quiet for a moment, then shook off the melancholy and was all business. "Well, what'll it be, folks?"

Kim smiled and shook her head, slightly amused. "A dozen Boston Crèmes, please," she requested politely. They chatted for a few more minutes while he got the doughnuts, then she paid and she and Billy left the bakery.

"He's a character, isn't he?" Billy asked with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah. You'll meet a few people like him in the 'Burg," Kim replied, turning the engine over and backing out of the space.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They entered the hospital a few minutes later – Kimberly carrying the Tupperware container and the cardboard box from her bungalow at Johns Hopkins and Billy carrying the doughnuts, plates, and plastic silverware – and approached the desk.

"May I help you?" the pleasant-looking nurse asked, settling an appreciative gaze on Billy.

"Um, yes," he replied, uncomfortable under the scrutiny. "Can you tell us how to find Frank Plum?"

"Are you friends or family?"

"Family," Kim replied, taking pity on her poor brother. "He's our uncle." The nurse typed something into her computer and glanced up.

"Yes, Frank Plum. It appears he's still in surgery, but his family and friends are gathered in waiting room three." She pointed down the hall and Kim and Billy thanked her quickly before hurrying down the hallway.

When they entered the waiting room, Kim glanced around and took in the scene that greeted her. Valerie was seated in a chair, sobbing into the shoulder of a man that was most definitely _not_ the man she had married ten years before. An infant was seated on her lap, wailing pitifully, and a little girl that was maybe nine was seated on the other side of the gentleman, determinedly reading a book. Another little girl, maybe seven years old, was galloping around the room, shaking her head, and neighing.

A greasy, slimy man sat along the wall across from Valerie. His black hair was slicked back and his shirt was unbuttoned enough to show the gold chains he wore around his neck. Kim recognized him as Uncle Frank's nephew Vincent. Next to him sat an elegantly-tailored, perfectly-groomed blonde who looked bored to be sitting there.

Stephanie was sitting along the back wall, surrounded by men. On her left sat a lithe, lean, dark man with a small scar slicing his right eyebrow. Kim knew she had seen him before, but couldn't place where from. On her right sat a dark-skinned, black-haired man dressed all in black.

Their chairs had obviously been pulled away from the wall because there were four men standing behind them. A tall black man with a buzz cut and dressed in desert camis; a stocky, muscular bald man with a flaming skull tattooed on his head; what appeared to be the flaming-skull guy's twin, only without the tattoo; and a short, Hispanic man with a tear tattoo under one eye.

Sitting on either side of Stephanie on the floor in front of her were more men: a Hispanic man with tiny laugh lines around his mouth; a dark-haired man with a medic's bag in front of him; and two more dark-haired men. Aunt Ellen and Grandma Mazur were nowhere to be found. The only person in the room that seemed to have noticed her and Billy enter was the dark-skinned man sitting at Steph's right. Stephanie had her head buried in the left guy's shoulder, so she didn't notice her.

Kim turned to Billy and took the doughnut box, setting it carefully on top of the cardboard box and slowly approached Stephanie. The men surrounding her all tensed and reached for the guns at their hips, but she gazed at the right-hand man, letting him know with her eyes that she wasn't there to hurt anybody. He relaxed imperceptibly, and the men around him did, too.

Kim knelt in between the medic and one of the dark-haired men in front of Stephanie and placed the stack of boxes under the chair before taking Steph's hand. Slowly, the curly-haired beauty lifted her gaze from left-hand man's shoulder and blinked to dislodge the tears.

"Kimberly?" she asked, her blue eyes unbelieving. At Kim's gentle nod, Stephanie hurled herself out of the chair and into Kim's arms, sobbing uncontrollably into her neck. All ten men around Stephanie wore similar expressions of shock, but didn't say anything.

Kim had to work not to topple backwards at the weight of Steph's impact, but eventually she stood up and placed her cousin back into the chair she had just vacated and perched on the armrest between Stephanie and left-handed man. Once Steph's sobs had subsided, she glanced up and noticed Billy still standing in the doorway.

"Who's that, Kim?" she asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Kim grinned. "That's Billy." Kimberly had called Steph a few months before, shortly after she and Billy had found out that they were twins, and had told her older cousin everything. Since they had had no phone calls from either Grandma Mazur or Aunt Ellen, Kimberly was willing to bet that Steph had kept it a secret.

"Really? He came with you?" Steph practically squealed. "Wait a sec, how _did_ you get here so fast? California's a six-hour flight from here."

Kim sighed. "Long story. Suffice it to say, I'm temporarily living in Baltimore, and Billy was visiting me when I got your call." She shrugged. "Hey, I've got something for you!" She slid down onto the floor and pulled the three boxes out from under the chair. "I didn't know what you'd want, so I brought all three."

Steph lifted the lid off the first box and squealed once more when she saw the Boston Crèmes. Another squeal escaped when she opened the cardboard box and saw the wine-and-cheese shaped cake. But she took a second look at it and glanced quizzically at Kimberly.

"It was Mom and Pierre's anniversary cake; yesterday was their tenth anniversary, but…"

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah, Aunt Steph called Mom late last night. I'm sorry about Pierre, guys."

Billy nodded regretfully. "Yeah, so are we." At Kim's look, he glared. "Stop that right now, Kimberly Cranston! Pierre's death was _not_ your fault!"

Kim shook off her guilty feelings and grinned at Stephanie. "Hey, you still have one more container to open," she announced, pushing the Tupperware container at her.

"Do I even want to know?" Steph sighed, but took the Tupperware anyway. She opened the lid and glanced inside before ripping the lid completely off with a wide smile.

"Kimberly, I love you!" she announced happily, gesturing to the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake in the container. Billy brought over the plates and forks, cutting a wide slice for Stephanie and placing it on a plate.

"Babe," the dark-skinned man at her right said, amused. "That stuff'll kill you." At her glare, he grinned. "Explain," he demanded, gesturing to Kim and Billy.

"They're my cousins," she said defensively. "Billy and Kimberly Cranston, the twins of my Aunt Stephanie – who I'm named after – and who is my mother's twin sister. This is Ranger," she said to Kim. "And this," gesturing to the man on her left, who looked less-than-pleased, "is Joe Morelli."

"Of course, now I remember!" Kim shouted. "When I walked in, I thought he looked familiar, but couldn't place why. He's the one Aunt Ellen was always telling us to keep away from." At Steph's nod, she grinned. "Not that you ever could."

Stephanie snorted and turned behind her. "That's Tank," she announced, pointing to the black man in the camis. "And Cal," the man with the flaming tattoo. "And Junior," who looked like Cal's twin without the tattoo. "And Hector," the Hispanic man with the gang-kill tattoo. "And Lester," the Hispanic in front of Ranger. "And Bobby," the medic. "And Hal, and Woody," the two dark-haired men in front of Morelli.

There was a commotion at the door, and Kim turned around in time to see Aunt Ellen and Grandma Mazur enter the waiting room. "Kimberly, this is a pleasant surprise," Aunt Ellen announced.

Kim came up and gave her aunt a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, Aunt Ellen. Steph called me a couple hours ago and told me about Uncle Frank. Since I've been in Baltimore for the last couple months, Billy and I decided to come visit."

"Billy?" she asked, glancing at the Blue Ranger. "Isn't that your friend from school, dear?"

"Actually, it turns out that Billy's Kim's twin brother," Val spoke up from her seat. "Apparently Aunt Stephanie and Dr. Cranston had an affair thirty years ago, and Kim and Billy are the result of it."

_Huh,_ Kim thought. _Looks like Steph told someone, after all._

"What?" screeched Aunt Ellen, who made the sign of the cross in front of her. "Why me? Other women don't have sisters that give birth to illegitimate children and try to pass them off as their husband's. Why me?"

"Uh, it's a long story, Aunt Ellen," Kim soothed. "But you do want to greet Billy, don't you?"

Aunt Ellen gathered herself together and smiled warmly at Kimberly, her impeccable 'Burg manners winning out. "Of course I do, Kimberly. Welcome to Trenton, Billy." And she gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Why don't you tell us your story, Kimberly?" Grandma Mazur asked, settling down in one of the fake leather chairs. "I bet it's a pip. I've got a pretty pippy story to tell you, too, after you tell me yours."

Kim rolled her eyes at Stephanie, who grinned and went back to eating her cake.

"I'm glad that Billy has such a nice package…he musta got that from the Mazur side of the family," Grandma Mazur continued on. Billy shifted uncomfortably, and Stephanie nearly choked on her cake. "That's the problem with those Hart men…their packages aren't big enough to keep us Mazur women interested."

"Grandma!" Kim, Steph, and Val screamed together.


	10. The Truth is Revealed

Slytherin-Angel44: The activities with the Bunsen burner will probably come out in the next chapter. Have you ever read Janet Evanovich's books? They crack me up; they're supposed to be mysteries, but they read more like comedies. The character "Grandma Mazur" talks just like that: always talking about men's "packages" and "a pip of a story".

Chan-Valerte: Yay! I'm glad you'll keep the reviews coming, because I love to read 'em!

Gigletrig: Yeah, poor Billy. I suppose I could have had Kim warn him about their grandmother's personality, but that would have ruined the surprise. Anyhow, keep reading!

GinaStar: I know I haven't said much about the cancer or any of the pregnancies recently; that's been by design. There will be some mention of both in this chapter and the next one, though.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kim grabbed one of the paper plates and a fork and cut off a slice of her mother's anniversary cake. If she had to deal with her grandmother's shenanigans, she needed sugar. Suddenly, though, her wristwatch chimed, signaling that it was time for her to take her tea. Realizing she didn't have her tea things, she grimaced and turned to her brother.

"Uh, Billy?" she began, turning his attention to her. "I forgot my tea things in the car. Can you go and get them for me?" She handed him a set of keys, hoping he'd realize that those were not the keys to the Expedition but to the bungalow, and would teleport back to Baltimore to get the pot and leaves for her. Luckily, understanding gripped his features and he grinned at her.

"Sure thing, Kim. Be back in a sec." He kissed her on her hair and headed out the door.

"You have to have your brother go and get your tea out of the car?" Aunt Ellen asked suspiciously. "There's a perfectly nice cafeteria that serves tea right here in the hospital."

Kim winced. "I'm sure they do, Aunt Ellen, but my doctor says that this tea will help with my nausea." It was a half-truth, anyhow. She didn't want her aunt, grandmother, and cousins to know she had cancer. At least, not yet.

"Nausea? What nausea?" _Of course,_ Kim thought wryly. _Leave it to Aunt Ellen to focus on the nausea part of the explanation._ Luckily, Stephanie intercepted.

"Mom, it's none of our business. It may be something as mild as the flu." Apparently, no one knew about the pregnancy, either. Kim sighed; she and Steph would need to have a long talk sometime during this visit. Fortunately, Kim was spared from having to explain anything right then, because Billy returned, carrying a small box, a large box, her laptop case, and her briefcase.

He handed her the small box and set the other things down on the floor beside her. "I thought – since we may be here for some time – that you might want to work on that project your boss has you doing," he said by way of explanation. Kim nodded and pulled the teapot out of the box in her hands. Billy measured the correct amount of leaves into the pot and took it away from her. "I'll go find some hot water to add to this." And he was gone again.

Bobby – the medic sitting on the floor beside her – grabbed the canister of tea leaves and examined it, sniffing. "You said you'd been in Baltimore the last few months?" he questioned, eying Kimberly, who nodded cautiously. "That wouldn't happen to be at Johns Hopkins, would it?"

"Why?" Kim asked, eyes narrowing.

"Well," he began, sniffing the leaves again. "These tea leaves _are_ medicinal, but not really used in the treatment of nausea. In fact, they generally _cause_ nausea, not lessen it. Most recently they've been used experimentally in the treatment of some forms of cancer."

"Cancer?" Stephanie asked, shaking her head emphatically. Billy chose that moment to come back through the door with Kim's teapot. "You must be mistaken, Bobby. My cousin doesn't have cancer, do you, Kim?"

"You mean you never told them?" Billy asked, setting the pot on a magazine on one of the side tables and pouring some of the scalding liquid into a Styrofoam cup. He handed the cup to Kim and stood up. "Why didn't you at least tell Stephanie?"

"She didn't tell us because it's not true, Billy!" Stephanie cried, indignant.

"Babe," Ranger soothed, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Cupcake, calm down," Joe demanded, stilling Steph's leg with a hand on her knee. "I'm sure your cousin will explain everything."

Kim sighed, hanging her head. "I was diagnosed with Leukemia in September," she murmured so quietly only Stephanie, Ranger, Joe, and Bobby the Medic heard her. She glanced up and noticed the tears welling in Stephanie's eyes and the two men on either side of her tightening their grips on her cousin.

"I'm so sorry, Steph; I really should have told you, but things have been so hectic the last few months, with treatments and my pregnancy and my boss has me working on a book, and another friend has me doing a research project, and some psycho's trying to kill my parents…it just never occurred to me to call."

"Pregnancy?" Aunt Ellen asked, making the sign of the cross in front of her. "Why me? Other people don't have nieces that get themselves pregnant without the benefit of a husband."

_Why does she always focus on the __**one**__ thing I try to glaze over so she __**won't**__ focus on it?_ Kimberly asked herself irritably.

"What about the psycho that's trying to kill your parents?" Grandma Mazur asked, popping into the conversation. "Tell us about that. I bet it's a pip of a story."

"Alright, everyone. Enough!" Billy demanded, whistling through his thumb and forefinger to get everyone's attention. It worked; everyone snapped their heads in Billy's direction.

"Yes, Kimberly has Leukemia. She didn't call because – like she said – she's had a lot on her plate. Yes, she's pregnant. She and her fiancé Tommy intentionally started trying to get pregnant after she was diagnosed with Leukemia so that, if the worst happened, at least we would still have some small part of Kim still here with us, and they were lucky enough to get pregnant right away. They _are_ getting married, probably on the same day that my fiancée Trini and another couple we know will be getting married, but we don't have a date or location or anything set yet. Kim or I will call Stephanie when we have that information for you.

"Yes, there is a psycho after our parents. Our mother called Aunt Ellen last night, so I'm sure you all know about our stepfather Pierre being killed yesterday. The same guy that had him killed is the one that's trying to kill our mom and dad. He's trying to get to us through them. Mom would have been here today with us, but she and Dad are in a safe house right now, at our request. Any questions?"

"I actually have a question for Bobby-the-Medic over here," Kim piped up. When Bobby turned his amused glance to Kimberly, she continued. "How did you know that my tea leaves are used to treat cancer?"

He nodded, chuckling. "Fair question. My dad's actually a Radiologist at Johns Hopkins. Maybe you've met him: Dr. Robert Brown?"

Kim shook her head. "I'd like to say that I have, but since I'm not doing Chemo or Radiology, I really would have had no reason to meet him." Kim finished the tea in her cup and headed over to the table where the pot was. She poured the last of the tea into her cup and returned to her seat in front of Stephanie.

"You're refusing treatment?" Valerie asked, placing her now-sleeping baby in the carseat. "Can you do that?"

Kim shook her head emphatically. "I never said I was refusing _treatment_, Val; what do you think the tea things are? I just said I'm not doing Chemo or Radiology. I'd kinda like to not give birth to a radioactive baby."

"You're so thin, Kimberly," Steph murmured. "You look like you weigh less now than you did when I was in California two years ago. Is that good for the baby?"

Kim smiled wanly. "I was really sick for the first few months. The leaves I was given for treatment made me really sick, and coupled with morning sickness, I wasn't keeping anything in. In fact, I was expelling more than I took in." At Stephanie's wrinkled nose, she laughed softly.

"I ended up losing a total of twelve pounds in three months. But when I hit that three-month mark, my temporary OB/GYN and my Oncologist collaborated to mix my cancer treatment tea with some tea leaves that would quell my nausea. That was about a week and a half ago, and I haven't been sick since. I've gained back another pound, so I am gaining the weight back, and hopefully after the New Year I won't look Bulimic anymore."

"You lost twelve pounds?" Stephanie demanded. At Kim's confused nod, she continued. "You only weighed about 105 to begin with, Kimberly."

"Yeah, I know…I'm 95 now. I'm a stick," Kim sighed. "Has anyone heard anything on Uncle Frank?" At that moment, however, a doctor entered, blood staining his blue scrubs. Everyone sitting slowly stood and gave their full attention to the doctor.

"He did well. He was lucky; the bullet hit an artery, so he could have lost much more blood, but it lodged there, so it was really holding the blood in. Which, in a nutshell, saved his life. Anyhow, you can see him now, but family only please."

"How long should he stay here, Doctor?" Billy asked as Aunt Ellen, Valerie, and Steph slipped out of the room.

"He should probably stay here for a couple days, just to be on the safe side of things."

Billy nodded. "Thank you."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

An hour later, Uncle Frank was resting peacefully and Vinnie and his wife had gone home. So had the majority of Ranger's men, and Joe Morelli left, too, claiming he had work to do. And Valerie and her new husband – whose name Kimberly had found out was Albert Kloughn – and their broad of children had gone, too. That left Aunt Ellen, Grandma Mazur, Billy, Kimberly, Stephanie, Ranger, Tank, Bobby, and Lester.

"Kim, you can stay with me," Steph offered. "I don't have a spare bedroom, but the sofa's pretty comfy."

"In that case, Billy," Aunt Ellen spoke up, "You can stay with us. Stephanie's old room is available, and we would enjoy the opportunity to get to know you better while you're in town."

"Just tell Grandma to stay away from Billy's package," Kim instructed her aunt. "She may end up trying to measure it like she did to Kenny that one time." Billy paled, while Stephanie, Bobby, and Lester were on the floor, rolling with laughter. Kim couldn't see them move, but could feel the vibrations of laughter coming from Ranger and Tank, as well.

"Who is Kenny?" Ranger asked, tactfully crossing his legs as he leaned up against the wall.

"He's mine and Billy's older half-brother," Kim replied, giggling slightly. "He's about Steph's age. Grandma got a hold of him one night when we were visiting her, pulled down his pants, and held a ruler against him. I think the poor guy still has nightmares."

"Hey, I had to make sure he was healthy!" Grandma Mazur protested. "As it was, there's gotta be something wrong with that boy. Four inches just won't cut it with most women."

Lester howled even louder while Kimberly covered her ears. "Omigod, Grandma, too much information!"

"Kimberly, you can drop Billy off at our house later. You remember the way, don't you?" Aunt Ellen inquired.

"Yes, Aunt Ellen, I remember the way. We'll probably buy dinner and have it at Steph's apartment, so Billy might be a little late. Don't wait up." Aunt Ellen nodded and ushered Grandma Mazur out of the room.

"Kimberly, don't you dare leave me alone with those two," Billy demanded desperately.

"Relax, Billy. Kenny was like 16 when Grandma did that to him, and he's never been as strong as you are. You can hold her off," Kim assured her brother, patting his shoulder.

"Hey, Kim, what are all these little boxes for?" Steph asked. Kimberly paled as she turned around. Stephanie had the large box that Billy had brought with her tea things earlier, and had opened it to find all the smaller lead boxes inside. She was opening one of the small lead boxes now.

"No, Steph don't open…that," she finished as the lid was flipped open and the seven Dino Gems were revealed. Billy looked at her inquisitively. Kim just shook her head imperceptibly.

"Wow! These are beautiful. They must be worth a fortune!" Stephanie announced, gazing at the multi-colored stones.

"Yeah, they're priceless," Kim murmured, heading over to her cousin.

"You didn't steal them, did you?" Stephanie asked, flipping her gaze to Kim.

"No, I didn't steal them," Kim muttered. "A friend lent them to me because he wants me to conduct some research for him." She reached to take the box from her, but Stephanie turned away and reached for one of the stones.

"This one looks kinda like Kryptonite," Stephanie exclaimed, reaching for the green one. "Maybe we should try it on you, Batman, to see if anything happens."

"Kryptonite was Superman's weakness, not Batman's, Babe," Ranger replied, the corners of his mouth turned up. Stephanie's hand closed around the green gem and a flash of green light emitted from the gem.

"Holy shit!" Stephanie exclaimed, dropping the gem and all of the boxes onto the floor. "That thing was alive!"

"Bombshell, I hate to break it to you, but rocks aren't alive," Bobby announced, bending down to pick up the contents of the box. He glanced curiously at Kimberly as he picked up the various morphers, gems, coins, and discs and placed them all back in the large box before standing up and placing the box easily under his arm.

"Thanks," Kim said quietly, head down. "Wait a second!" she snapped her gaze back up to her cousin. "The gem flashed. You said it was alive."

"It was!" Steph insisted. "It was sort of…"

"…pulsing with energy," Kimberly finished for her. At Steph's emphatic nod, Kim sighed. "Shit! We need to get back to your apartment, where we can have this conversation in private." She turned to Ranger. "Since you and your men were here when this all happened, you can come, too. But this information is top secret. You can't share it with anybody else. Nobody in your organization, not my aunt or uncle, not even Joe Morelli."

The corners of Rangers mouth tilted up again. "Morelli and I aren't exactly the best of friends, Dr. Cranston," he stated. Kimberly took that to mean that he would keep the secret, and Ranger's almost imperceptible nod confirmed it.

"Damn ESP," Stephanie muttered. Billy and Lester picked up the remaining boxes, while Ranger grabbed Kimberly's briefcase and laptop case, and the group headed out the door.

"Where should we pick up dinner?" Kimberly asked once they were in the parking garage.

"Honestly Kim, you don't need to pick up dinner for us," Steph protested.

Kimberly ignored her. "I kind of have a hankering for a Pino's pizza. I haven't had one in forever."

Stephanie hesitated. "Pino's would be good," she finally admitted.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

An hour later, and the seven of them were settled comfortably in Stephanie's living room with three pizzas and seven meatball subs from Pino's, plus a six-pack of caffeine-free diet cola for Kim and a case of beer for everyone else.

"OK, Kim. Spill," Billy demanded. "Why do you have all those Power sources, and what does Zordon want you to do with them?"

"Maybe we should start with telling Stephanie and the guys that we're Power Rangers, and explaining who Zordon is," Kimberly retorted.

"Yeah, start there," Steph requested, eyes shifting from one cousin to the other. "And explain why that green rock flashed and hummed at me."

Kim spent the next hour and a half explaining what she knew about Zordon's project for her. She pulled the large box toward herself and, pulling each Power source out one by one, explained how it worked. When she got to the Wind Discs for the Ninja Storm team, Stephanie jumped.

"I've seen those things before!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Kim asked, confused.

"Yeah! Remember when I visited you in Stone Canyon two years ago? When you were just hired as a Paleobotanist for BioTech?" she asked.

"Yes," Kimberly replied slowly. "What does that have to do with these discs?"

"I was driving through Reefside on my way up to see you and stopped for a cup of coffee from this cybercafe place, and took a walk under a bridge while I drank it. I saw those three discs lying there in the grass, so I picked them up and put them in my pocket. They're in my jewelry case right now; should I go get them?"

Kim nodded. "That would probably be wise."

When Stephanie returned, Kimberly compared the three discs she brought out with the three that were in the lead case, and found that they were identical. Excitedly, she placed them all back in the lead case and closed it.

"I'll work on transferring the Power back tomorrow," she announced. "For now, I'm beat." It was almost midnight at this point. "Billy, you ready to go back to Aunt Ellen's?"

"We'll drop him off, Dr. Cranston," Bobby offered, gesturing to himself and Lester.

"OK, that would be great. Thanks guys," Kim replied, getting up to hug her brother.

"Are we going running in the morning, Kim?" Billy asked. For the past few months, the twins had made it a point to do their morning run and workout routine together at least once a week.

Kim nodded. "There's a park halfway between here and Aunt Ellen and Uncle Frank's. Mr. Brown and Mr. Santos will show you where it is. Meet you there at 5?" Billy nodded.

"You can call us Lester and Bobby instead of Mr. Santos and Mr. Brown," Lester offered.

"Then I'm Kimberly instead of Dr. Cranston," Kim retorted.

"And I'm Billy instead of Dr. Cranston," Billy added. "We should really do something about that. Three Cranstons in the world, and we're all doctors. Yeesh!"

"You guys are crazy, going running at five in the morning," Stephanie pronounced.

"I keep telling you, Babe," Ranger grinned. "The body is a temple. Even your cousins can appreciate that. Of course, the fact that they're superheroes might have something to do with that." He turned his attention to Billy and Kimberly. "Do you two mind some company in the morning?"

Billy and Kim glanced at each other, shrugged, and shook their heads. "Nope. You're more than welcome to join us," Billy offered.


	11. Breakfast at Stephanie's

Jps1926: I agree; Kim has a crazy life. I'm glad you're enjoying the crossover, and I'll explain some of the dynamics of the characters of the crossover in my A/N so you and anyone else who doesn't know the Stephanie Plum series can sort of follow and understand who the characters are. I'll also be including a character list in this chapter that will include all the Stephanie Plum characters so you can refer to that when you come across a character you don't know.

Gigletrig: Yeah, now their cousin's a ranger. Family business, I guess.

Slytherin-Angel44: Yeah, and Ranger and his men tend to be protective of Stephanie, so you'll kinda see them getting all protective of Kim in this chapter, too.

Aiwin: I'm glad you enjoyed _Rainbow_ so much. Hopefully, you'll feel the same about this one, too.

DarkenedRoseThorn: Stephanie has all these men around her because she is a walking time bomb. Joe Morelli is her boyfriend, but Ranger is her mentor/friend/bodyguard. The other guys around her are Ranger's Merry Men, and they stay around her for two reasons: Ranger tells them to, and they all love Stephanie.

Kimtom4eva: I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I actually didn't write _Rainbow_ just before the Power Morphicon convention. Or maybe I did and just didn't realize it. I started it last spring and finished in the fall right before I started _Pink Road_.

MagCat: It's OK that you've been gone for so long; so have I, really. I'm just glad to see you again! Yeah, everyone else's family _does_ seem normal compared to Kim and Billy's. And I'm glad that you recognize I'm trying to keep everyone's personalities intact.

In this world live all worlds: I have to admit; the use of the word "cupcake" does not belong to me; I took it from Janet Evanovich, who is the creator of Stephanie Plum and her merry little world. But I agree: no one ever uses it anymore. As for the happy ending: we shall see. I have a couple ideas, but this story still has _several_ more chapters to go before I have to put any of them into practice.

A/N: OK, I know I threw a lot of you for a loop when I introduced the Stephanie Plum series, so I just want to clear a few things up about the new characters. Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter; she works for her cousin Vinnie Plum who owns a bond office. When the bondee fails to appear (FTA) for court, her job is to find them and bring them in. She has two men after her: Joe Morelli, a cop that she's known all her life; and Ranger, another bounty hunter that has been teaching her the ropes of the business. Ranger owns a security company and has a lot of heavily-armed men working for him. All the new characters are listed below, with short histories of each. If you have trouble keeping track of the new characters, go ahead and refer to the character list so you can get a feel for who they are. If we come across a character that you don't recognize and, for some reason, I forgot to list them here, then feel free to email me if you need clarification. Thanks! Desiree

Characters in the Stephanie Plum Series:

**Stephanie Plum**: A bounty hunter from Trenton, NJ. She fell into the job when she lost her job as a lingerie buyer three years ago, and has had a love/hate relationship with it ever since. She's not exactly a great bounty hunter; she's more lucky than anything else. She has bad karma with cars: they all get blown up or stolen or squashed or graffitied when she's around. Her apartment has been bombed and she's been shot, kidnapped, threatened, had psycho stalkers, and had a street gang try to rape her, and she's always come out relatively unscathed. She tried quitting once when she was tired of all the psychos chasing after her, but they didn't stop coming, so she went back to the job. A newspaper dubbed her the "Bombshell Bounty Hunter", and all Ranger's men have nicknamed her "Bombshell" and "Bomber" in deference to all the cars she has sent up to car heaven. She has an on-again off-again boyfriend – Joe Morelli, who calls her Cupcake – but also has another man in her life: Ranger, who calls her Babe. Her favorite food is Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. She has a pet hamster named Rex. She has an ex-husband who she caught cheating on her with her worst enemy on her brand-new dining room table.

**Detective Joseph Morelli**: A Vice cop with the Trenton Police Department who sometimes switches to Homicide. Has a long history with Stephanie: when he was 8 and she was 6, he led her into his father's garage to play "choo-choo" with her; he stole her virginity when she was 16; she ran him over and broke his leg two years later; he was her first capture when she became a bounty hunter; and has been in and out of her life and bed ever since. He hates her job and uses every disaster that happens to tell her that she's no good at it and should quit, marry him, and become a housewife. He has a pet dog named Bob.

**Ricardo Carlos "Ranger" Manoso**: Security expert and bounty hunter extraordinaire. When Steph became a bounty hunter, he came in to show her the ropes. He owns a security company, RangeMan LLC, and does the higher-bond FTAs that are out of Stephanie's league. Occasionally he employs her at RangeMan. She does distraction (luring an FTA out of an establishment – usually a bar – with her feminine charms) and runs internet searches and background checks for him. He's told Stephanie he loves her, but he always tacks on a qualifier, such as "in my own way" or "my love comes with a condom, not a ring". He slept with her once, when she was in an off-phase of her relationship with Morelli, but sort of tricked her into it by saying he'd help her with one of her FTAs if she spent the night with him. It's assumed that his nickname Ranger comes from the time he spent as an Army Ranger in the Special Forces. He has an ex-wife and a daughter, but not many people know that other than Stephanie and his men. Steph calls his men the "Merry Men". Stephanie calls him "Batman" because he dresses all in black, can get any information he wants, has the newest and latest in security and defense devices, and has an endless supply of expensive cars and an equally endless supply of properties. He keeps black SUVs for his men, and his personal cars include a Porsche Turbo 911, a Porsche Cayenne, a Mercedes, a BMW, and a Ford F-150, all black.

**Grandma (Edna) Mazur**: A 70-something woman who acts like a 20-something. She has skin like a soup chicken and short silver hair that she has permed every week. Occasionally she'll add a rinse and come out of the salon with apricot-colored hair. She's always referring to Ranger as the "bounty hunter with the nice package", and has a new "stud-muffin" almost every week. She carries around a .45 in her purse. Has a bad track record with weapons: when Steph first became a bounty hunter, she was looking at Steph's new gun and accidentally shot the roast chicken in the ass; another time, she was looking at Steph's new stun gun and stunned Steph's father, Frank; she had to move in with Steph for a few days when she embedded a knife in Frank's head.

**Frank and Ellen Plum**: Stephanie's parents. Frank is a retired mail worker who drives a taxi part-time to get away from his mother-in-law (Grandma Mazur). Ellen is the perfect 'Burg housewife. She hates Stephanie's job and always compares her to other 'Burg daughters, usually preceded by crossing herself and saying "why me?"

**Albert and Valerie Kloughn**: (Pronounced Clown) Valerie is Steph's perfect older sister. She was married just out of high school and moved to California and had two kids, Angie and Mary Alice. Angie is 10 and acts 30. Mary Alice is 8 and thinks she's a horse. Val's husband, Steven, left her for the babysitter and she moved back to New Jersey, where she got a job with a lawyer, Albert Kloughn. They had a baby, Lisa, and about six months later were married.

**Vincent Plum**: Vinnie is Stephanie's cousin on her father's side. He owns a bond office, Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. He is married to the only daughter of a mob boss, Harry the Hammer. He has a fetish for barnyard animals; it was rumored he was once in love with a duck.

**Connie Rosolli and Lula**: Connie is Vinnie's office manager. She also has mob connections, but it is uncertain how exactly they are related to her. Lula was a 'ho before she was beat up by a John and left to die on Stephanie's fire escape. She cleaned up her act and is now working as a file clerk in the bonds office. Sometimes she rides along when Stephanie goes after her skips.

**Mary Lou Stankovic**: Stephanie's best friend since they were children. Married to Lenny Stankovic. Has four children and a dog, all names are unknown.

**Louis and Ella Guzman**: Louis is the manager of the Trenton RangeMan building. His wife, Ella, is Ranger's housekeeper. Ranger keeps an apartment on the top floor of the Trenton RangeMan office that Ella takes care of. She cooks his meals, cleans the apartment, and does his laundry. She also takes care of the fourth floor, where there are studio apartments available for RangeMan employees. Louis takes care of the rest of the building.

**The Merry Men**: Stephanie's nickname for Ranger's men. Their names are listed below. Tank, Bobby, and Lester make up Ranger's "A Team" – men he was in the Special Forces with and trusts implicitly with his life. Bobby and Lester are the only two with known last names, and Tank's real name is Pierre.

**Tank**

**Bobby Brown**

**Lester Santos**

**Hal**

**Cal**

**Al**

**Hector**

**Woody**

**Junior**

**Zero**

**Ram**

**Vince**

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kimberly awoke at 4:30 the next morning and shut off her phone, which she had used as an alarm. She headed to the bathroom to take care of business and splash water on her face, then she swept her hair up into a messy ponytail and changed into black jogging pants with pink stripes down the side and a black t-shirt. She placed the spare key Steph had given her in her pocket, pulled on her sneakers, grabbed the matching jacket to her pants, and left the apartment at exactly 4:50.

She decided to forego the elevator and take the stairs down to the ground floor. Once she stepped off the last stair, she ran smack dab into Ranger, who steadied her while she regained her footing. He was dressed in black sweatpants and a black hoodie sweatshirt.

"Steph's still sleeping," Kim mentioned, grinning up at the bounty hunter.

The corners of Ranger's mouth tilted up imperceptibly. "I'm not here to see Stephanie," he said. "But thanks for letting me know she's OK. Tank and I came to pick you up to go running. Bobby and Lester are getting your brother and will meet us at the park."

Kim's eyebrows rose in surprise as she shook her head and stepped around him. "What?" he demanded, coming up beside her. They left the building and, with Tank, began jogging toward the park.

"Steph told me you rarely speak, and when you do, it's usually one-word sentences."

Tank snorted, but kept the pace up. Ranger grinned. "If you and Billy will be here for a few days, do you mind company on your morning runs?" he asked, changing the subject.

"No," she replied, setting a slightly more rapid pace than they had been keeping. "But why the interest in our company in the morning? You barely know us."

"Running alone in the dark in Trenton is not a good idea. My guys always run in pairs, and I don't like the idea of you two on your own."

She gave him a lopsided smile before turning her attention back to her running. "Thanks, but we don't need babysitters."

"Christ, you sound just like Bomber," Tank announced.

"Bomber?" Kim asked, glancing at the tall black man beside her. "What's a Bomber?"

"It's a nickname my guys gave to Stephanie after she was dubbed the 'Bombshell Bounty Hunter' in the newspapers," Ranger explained, turning down a side street that would take them to the park.

"Ah," Kim replied, nodding between gasps. "No wonder Bobby called her 'Bombshell' at the hospital last night."

They entered the park then and spotted Billy, Bobby, and Lester, so they stopped talking and started pacing. They paired off as they entered the jogging path: Billy and Lester, Bobby and Tank, and Ranger and Kim. The pairs paced themselves to match their partners, and the running was completed in relative silence.

The jogging path circled the park and was exactly one mile around. Kim and Ranger, running faster than the other four, were on their fifth and final lap when Kim felt her legs knocked out from under her. Reflexively, she tucked her knees up, held her arms out, and turned it into a back flip. She landed and continued running, to see Billy and Lester grinning back at her. She and Ranger had just lapped them for the third time, but apparently they had sped up enough to catch her off guard.

"Are you OK?" Ranger asked, glancing over at her.

"I'm fine," Kim replied, smiling wryly. "No permanent damage."

"Santos is a dead man," Ranger growled.

"It wasn't Lester; it was Billy," Kim corrected, bending at the waist as they finished their five miles. "He always finds some way to trip me up when we run together; it's his idea of a joke."

"Your brother may have a habit of it, but I saw this trip up, and it was most definitely Santos."

"Since Billy and Lester have at least another two laps to go," Kim began, changing the subject. "Would you mind being my sparring partner, at least until they get finished?"

"I'm not willing to hit a pregnant woman; especially if she's a cousin of Steph's," Ranger countered.

"I'll let you know if it gets to be too tough for me," Kim replied sardonically, tugging off the jacket of her jogging suit. She slipped into a fighting stance and raised her eyebrows at the mercenary, who shook his head amusedly and took his stance. "Besides," Kim continued, blocking his first punch and kicking him lightly in the side, "Stephanie always describes you as an opportunist."

Twenty minutes later, Lester, Billy, Tank, and Bobby finished their five miles together and headed to where Ranger and Kimberly had an intense sparring match going. Ranger swept Kim's feet out from under her, but she used it to her advantage to flip over his head, landing behind him. She executed a side-kick, but he grabbed her leg and flipped it up. She back flipped and landed again in time to catch Ranger's right fist in her right hand and then his left fist in her right hand. Both were panting and sweating heavily at this point, but neither was willing to back down.

"Yo Boss, Rocket, ease up," Bobby demanded, stepping between the two and prying their hands apart.

"You call your boss 'Rocket'?" Billy asked, his head tilted to the side. "Why do you do that?"

"No," Tank cut in, "he was calling your sister 'Rocket'. She just ran five miles in less than twenty minutes, then went another twenty minutes sparring with Ranger. Kimberly's the only person we've ever seen who can keep up with Ranger when he's running at his full speed, and she never even tried to slow down. Bobby and I were watching and decided that we'd nickname her the Rocketeer, and call her Rocket for short."

"Rocket," Lester tried the name out. "Rocketeer. I like it! Now we have a Bombshell and a Rocketeer!"

"Joy," Kimberly rolled her eyes, stretching to cool herself down.

"It suits you," Billy smirked.

"Wiseass," she muttered.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At 5:45, Kim re-entered the apartment, tossing her jacket on the sofa as she made her way to the bathroom. She stopped in the bedroom to check that Steph was still sleeping, then peeled out of her jogging clothes and stepped into the shower. Forty-five minutes later and she was showered and dressed in a pair of black jeans with pink roses embroidered on them and a pale pink blouse with a black blazer. She picked up her keys and purse, clipped her phone to her belt, and left the apartment again.

She steered the Expedition in the direction of Giovichinni's Deli and Meat Market and picked up a half pound of roast beef, a half pound of turkey, a quarter pound of swiss, a quarter pound of provolone, some ground beef, breakfast sausages, Italian hot sausages, a few steaks, some Atlantic Salmon, a dozen eggs, a half gallon of nonfat milk, some boneless chicken breasts, a pound of jumbo shrimp, a pound of bay shrimp, and a couple King crab legs. Then she headed for the nearest Asian market to grab some ginger, garlic, scallions, tofu, a variety of jarred sauces, some peanut oil, some chili sauce, sprouts, peanuts, rice noodles, rice, coconut milk, curry powders, limes, and chili flakes. She had decided that she would make Thai food for dinner tonight, since she had a sudden craving for it. A last stop to the supermarket to pick up some fresh fruit, vegetables, flour, sugar, yeast, baking powder, baking soda, Bisquick, coffee grounds, coffee filters, soda, bottled water, beer, Ben & Jerry's Phish Food and Karamel Sutra, toilet paper, paper towels, and dish soap rounded out her shopping list.

She re-entered the parking lot in time to see Ranger angle out of his Porsche Turbo and head toward her car. After she picked up the four paper bags from her storage compartment, he grabbed the ten plastic ones and they entered the building. Kim didn't ask what he was doing there; she figured he was probably checking on her cousin. Steph had mentioned that Ranger had a thing about protecting her. As they exited the elevator on the second floor, Kim froze.

Ranger noticed why she had stopped and motioned her to stay behind him. The door was wide open. He carefully set the plastic bags he was carrying on the floor near the wall and drew his gun. The two approached the door, then froze again as they heard arguing coming from the apartment.

"Cupcake, you need to quit your job. You almost got yourself killed yesterday!" Joe's voice blared out. Kim felt Ranger stiffen next to her. She caught his eye and shook her head slowly. It wouldn't do any good to get involved; Steph wouldn't take that well. He got the message and nodded imperceptibly.

"Joe, I like my job. I enjoy the freedom it gives me," Steph's voice sounded tired and…resigned.

"You're not trained for it; in fact, you're pretty fucking horrible at it!" Joe retorted. "What you need to do is quit your job and marry me. If you loved me the way I love you, that's what you'd be doing."

"_Do_ you love me, Joe?" Stephanie asked, her voice angrier now. _You go, Steph!_ Kim thought to herself. Glancing at Ranger, she could almost see the pride in his countenance, too. "Because I gotta tell ya, it doesn't really seem like it! You say you love me, but you don't support my decisions. You say you want me, but what you really want is a woman to stay at home, barefoot and pregnant for the next ten years. If you loved me, you'd accept the way I am and not try to mold me into what you want me to be. If you cared about me, you wouldn't use work as an excuse to get away from my family. Kimberly and Billy must think you're a real asshole; you did nothing but glare at them the entire night, Billy especially!"

"The guy's a jerk, Steph. Did you see the way he was looking at you?" Joe spit out. Kimberly felt her back stiffen and noticed Ranger glaring in the general vicinity of the kitchen.

"What?" Stephanie demanded. "I don't fucking believe you just implied that _my cousin_ was hitting on me last night! What kind of a sick bastard are you?"

"I call it like I see it," he replied calmly.

"Speaking of calls," she turned back to him, "what were you doing with Teri Gilman at the Roadside Inn two nights ago? You have a lot of nerve accusing others when you can't keep it in your pants, Joe Morelli!"

"Oh, for pity's sake, that again? I told you, Cupcake: Teri and I work together. There's nothing going on, which is more than I can say for you and Manoso!"

Kim and Ranger heard Steph gasp. "Ranger is my _friend_, Joe. I'm with you, why can't you trust me?"

"Doesn't mean he stops wanting to get you into bed, Steph."

"You know what," Steph squeaked, "What if he _does_ want to get me into bed: does that automatically mean that he _will_? There's generally a two-way decision on things of that nature, and despite what you may think, Ranger would _never_ force me to do _anything_ I didn't want to do. He's not you, Joe."

"I've heard enough of this. Either quit your job and end your acquaintance with Manoso, or you and I are over," came Joe's ultimatum.

Kim had heard enough. Whether Stephanie would appreciate the butt-in or not was now irrelevant; she was putting a stop to this abuse. She pushed her way past Ranger and entered the apartment angrily. She slammed her four bags of groceries down on the counter and turned an icy stare on Morelli. "I think you should leave now, _Detective_," she issued coldly.

"Or you'll what, little girl?" he sneered. "Tell on me to your Auntie Ellen? Go back to your playpen; you're in _way_ over your head here."

"I wouldn't talk like that to Dr. Cranston if I were you, Morelli," Ranger's voice came from the doorway, where he had picked up his grocery bags and entered the apartment. Setting his bags on the counter, he continued his thought. "She's done more with her life in the past fifteen years than you ever will do with yours."

"Joe, just go," Steph sighed. "I'm tired of having the same arguments with you; you don't want me, you want a slave. Get out and don't come back."

"You'll change your mind, Cupcake; you always do," Joe replied confidently, striding out the front door.

"I've got a meeting in an hour; I'll see you ladies later," Ranger announced once he was sure Morelli had gone. He glanced at Kim as he turned around.

Kim got the message he was conveying and nodded imperceptibly. Steph noticed the exchange and sighed. "Damn ESP," she mumbled. "How the hell do you guys do that, by the way?"

"Oh, and Dr. Cranston, you can inform your brother that I have an empty studio apartment at RangeMan whenever he needs a place to stay," Ranger announced, ignoring Steph's question.

Kim nodded and Stephanie glanced between the two. "Can't Billy do the ESP thing, too?"

Ranger chuckled as he left the apartment. Kim grinned at her cousin. "You're going to have to ask him that; I don't speak for Billy," she replied, sifting through the bags of groceries. Stephanie finally noticed the bags of food and glared at Kim.

"What the hell did you buy, Kim?"

"Don't complain, Steph; your cupboards and refrigerator were empty. Can you start a pot of coffee?" she asked, handing over the coffee canister and the filters.

"Can you drink coffee in your condition?" Stephanie countered, gesturing to Kim's still-flat tummy. "Isn't caffeine bad for the baby?"

Kim shrugged. "Too much of anything is bad for anyone. My doctors assure me that one cup of coffee a day won't hurt the baby, though."

Steph nodded and started the pot while Kim got the perishables into the refrigerator and freezer, and the items she was planning to make for breakfast sorted out.

Half an hour later, the two women were setting the table with a steaming breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and coffee. And Kimberly also had a glass of orange juice and some sliced melon. Just as they were about to sit down, a knock came to the door.

"Huh…wonder who that is," Steph wondered aloud, standing up to answer it. "Most people that want into my apartment just break in." Kim shook her head in amusement as Stephanie peered through the peep hole and opened the door, revealing Billy.

"Hey guys, am I too late for breakfast?" Billy asked hopefully, sending a desperate glance Kim's way.

"Nope…just in time," Kim grinned, jumping up to fetch another cup of coffee and plate for Billy. She filled a glass of orange juice for him as well, and sat back down in her seat.

"Was Grandma so hard on you last night that you decided you had to get out of Dodge before she took another shot at you?" Steph asked, grinning slyly at her cousin.

Billy rolled his eyes. "No, but I just couldn't take any more of Aunt Ellen's bitching and moaning about Kim being unmarried and pregnant and what the 'Burg would think. Who cares what they'd think? Kim doesn't live here; she never has."

"Unfortunately, though, since I'm the child of a 'Burger, then I'm one by default, Billy. So are you," Kim pointed out. "Better get used to it; I've never seen a neighborhood take such an active interest in the lives of its residents than this one."

"But if you really want out of my mom's house, Ranger was just here a little bit ago and said that there's a studio at his office that you can use. Just need to call him," Steph offered.

Billy and Kim stared at each other quietly for a moment before Billy nodded. "I think I might take him up on that," he finally answered.

"I knew it!" Steph announced triumphantly. Kim grinned into her coffee cup while Billy glanced between his cousin and his sister before finally shaking his head at the mysteries of women and taking another bite of his pancakes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: OK, so this chapter went absolutely _not_ the way I had intended, but I guess it kinda sets the groundwork. You'll be seeing a lot of Ranger and his men, and a little bit more of Morelli in the next few chapters. Sorry it took so long to get this one out; I am in the process of switching jobs and also switching schedules so my life is a little hectic. The next one should be out soon, though.


	12. Power Sources

In this world live all worlds: Of course it will have a happy ending; it just might take awhile to get there, that's all.

GinaStar: Don't worry about missing chapter 10, I'm just glad you're still reading the story. And yeah, it took a _very_ long time to get everything settled down, but I think it finally might be, now. I would never let the story lie dormant forever.

Aiwin: Yeah, the influx of new characters would be enough to make anyone confused. But don't worry, only a few of them will be staying for more than the next two or three chapters.

Slytherin-Angel44: Um…she's a little more than three months, so the bump probably wouldn't be showing if she lost weight. Anyhow, she'll be gaining weight from here on out, so it won't be a problem.

Jps1926: Hey, that's not a bad idea about Kim and Steph kicking Morelli's butt! I'll have to keep that in mind for a future chapter!

Kels Tolar: I totally plan to keep on with this story! Hopefully, now that everything has finally settled down in my life, I can get myself back into a regular writing schedule again.

JessAngelus: It is absolutely OK for you to borrow my universe for future stories. Just let me know what the storyline you want is, and which of the characters you want to mainly follow. OK?

A/N: OK, OK, I know I have been gone for an inordinately long time, but things have finally settled down; I haven't been sick recently, and I have gotten myself into a routine at work and at school, so I can make time to write now. Yay!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well, here we are: Vincent Plum Bail Bonds!" Stephanie announced with a flourish, rolling her eyes. Kim slid the Expedition to a stop in front of the building and turned off the ignition. She and Steph had already taken Billy to the RangeMan offices so he could get himself settled into the apartment Ranger had offered him, then Steph had announced that she had to stop at the office to see if there were any new skips for her.

The women entered the building and were immediately accosted by a barrage of questions from the two women in the office.

"Yo, white girl!" shouted a woman that was at least a size sixteen, wearing a size ten, leopard print, spandex tank top and Capri set. "Get your skinny ass in here! How be your daddy?"

Steph grinned and perched herself on the corner of the desk. Kim vaguely recognized the bleach-blond sitting behind it, but could not place a name. "How did you know about my dad, Lula?" Steph asked the full-figured woman, sitting in a chair in front of the filing cabinet.

"Vinnie told us," the blond mentioned, eyeing Kim as if trying to place her. Steph noticed and gave the introductions.

"Connie, Lula, this is my cousin, Kimberly Cranston. She and her brother Billy are in town for a couple days, while my dad's in the hospital."

Connie, the blond behind the desk, snapped her fingers. "That's right, I remember you!" she announced, grinning widely. "You're the cousin whose mother had you and a twin brother with the neighbor guy, right?"

Kim smiled tentatively. "Nice to see you again, Connie. I forgot how fast news travels in the 'Burg."

"We just came to pick up my files," Steph explained, glancing at Lula.

"There are a few of them," Connie replied, pulling out a stack about three inches thick. "Seems like yesterday was the day for people to miss court dates. You have a few of your regulars: Mooner, Punky Balog, and even Sally Sweet."

Steph perked up at that last name. "Sally? He's not a regular of mine; in fact, he's usually helping me catch my skips. What'd he do?"

Lula sniggered. "Poor guy was hauled in for pulling out Mr. Droopy in public."

Kim nearly choked on the water she had just swallowed. "I'm sorry?" she coughed. "Did I just hear that correctly?"

Steph and Connie giggled behind the files they were holding, then Connie came back up and explained. "He was on a smoke break at one of his performances, behind the bar he and Lula were singing at."

"Yeah, I be a world-class rock star!" Lula announced proudly. Steph rolled her eyes, but Lula continued the story without paying any attention to her. "Anyway, Sally didn't know there was cops watching the joint on account of the owner pimps out his waitresses. Don't know why nobody would want any of 'em, ugly as they be."

Kimberly was thoroughly confused at this point, and looked at Steph for help. "Lula used to be a 'ho, so she knows all about the business," Steph explained.

"Oh," Kim replied, nodding. _Well, that would certainly explain the outfit,_ she thought to herself.

"But back to why Sally was arrested," Stephanie prompted.

"Oh, right!" Lula answered. "Well, he was out on his smoke break and had to take a piss, but there was a line in front of the can inside the bar, so he went outside."

"But that shouldn't have had him arrested," Kim pointed out. "I'm sure there were any number of drunk men outside that same bar that night, doing that same thing."

"That's true," Stephanie conceded, "but Sally wears evening gowns for his performances."

"Actually, that night, it was a one-piece black leather body suit," Connie said, flipping through the file.

"Yeah, and it don't fasten with no zipper." Lula shuddered. "Them things had teeny little buttons all the way down the back. That's why he was hauled in: he had to undo all them little buttons, then pull the suit down, just so he could drain the snake!"

_Beep Beep Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep_. Kim blanched and placed her hand on her communicator, but the sound wasn't coming from her wrist.

_Beep Beep Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep_.

"I think your phone is ringing, girly," Lula pointed out.

_Beep Beep Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep_. "Right!" Kim cried, suddenly remembering the ringtone Billy had programmed into all the Rangers' cell phones. She pulled the phone from its clip and checked the caller ID, smiling when she did. "Billy, what's up?" she asked into the receiver.

While Kim was speaking to her brother, Stephanie chatted with Connie and Lula for a few minutes about the stack of skips she had. There were a couple in the pile that worried her: one man had raped his girlfriend's daughter, then killed the girlfriend when she had walked in on them. Another had smashed a broken beer bottle into a friend's face in a drunken rage.

"Well, actually, I kind of had a craving for Thai food tonight. Tell you what: why don't you tell him to give his housekeeper the night off, and I'll make dinner for all of us, since I already bought everything for it. Yeah, OK, see you then. He is, why? Oh, yeah, that's probably a good idea. Alright, see you later. Bye." Kim snapped her phone shut and turned to Stephanie.

"What was that all about?" Steph asked, her head tilted to one side.

"Ranger's invited us over to his place for dinner, so we can talk about some things; Billy didn't mention what." She glanced at Connie and Lula, indicating she knew what it was Ranger wanted to talk about, but couldn't mention it in front of the other women. Steph got the message and nodded, grinning.

"OK, well, should we go?" she asked, indicating the files.

Kim shook her head. "Actually, Ranger told Billy that he was sending Bobby to help you with your skips…something about one of them being a chronic pot smoker?"

"Mooner," Steph, Connie, and Lula replied together, nodding.

"But why should that bother your skinny white ass?" Lula asked. "You got a problem with a little doobie or something?"

Steph rolled her eyes in grand 'Burg fashion and intercepted the woman. "Lula, Kim is pregnant, and besides that, she has Leukemia, and marijuana probably isn't good for either one of those conditions."

"Actually, marijuana has been proven effective in the treatment of some forms of cancer," Kim piped in. "But you're right; I'm not willing to risk the health of my child simply to make my bout with cancer easier on me. Besides, Tommy would murder me."

"I somehow doubt that big time, Rocket," came an amused voice from the doorway.

Kim rolled her eyes and turned to find Bobby watching the group. "Steph, how long did it take for you to get used to your nickname?" Kim asked with a wry grin.

"Who says I'm used to it now?" her cousin bantered back. "So, the Merry Men have named you, too?"

"Long story," Kim sighed, picking up her purse and heading for the door, behind Steph.

"Come on, Bomber; I'll tell you the story on the way," Bobby promised, steering Stephanie towards the black Bronco assigned to him. "What do you have planned for the next few hours, Kim?"

"Oh, don't worry about me. I have plenty of work to keep me busy," she replied with a grin, glancing around to be sure they weren't being watched, then pulling her Crane Power Coin out and flipping it. Bobby and Steph nodded in understanding, bid their goodbyes to the Pink Ranger, and climbed into the Bronco, driving off. Kim hoisted herself into her Expedition and pointed the car back in the direction of Steph's apartment.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_Aha!_ thought Kim, as she removed the three discs from the transfer plate. _Finally, I got the Ninja Storm powers back online._ She had teleported back to her lab in the Command Center after leaving her car in Steph's parking lot and picking the cases up from the apartment. She threw the now-worthless Ninja Discs away, and turned her attention to the other half of the transfer plate, where were sitting the original Ninja Discs, the Thunder Discs, and Cam's Samurai Amulet.

She pulled her laptop toward her and checked the energy levels of each item. Grinning widely, she was gratified to find out that each power source was at its full potential, ready to be used by its respective owner. Satisfied that she had another source down, she remembered her plan for the Dino Gems and pulled the lead box containing them toward her.

Kim's reasoning was that if she could use the transfer plate she had built to transfer the power from the evil Ninja Discs into the rightful power sources, she could do the same thing with the Dino Gems. She had two Gems that were at full power, and logging them online with her computer, she discovered that not only were they at full power, but the Green and Pink Gems each contained much more power capabilities than any of the other Gems combined. Wondering at this, she placed the Pink and Green Gems on one of the transfer plates and the Red, Blue, Green, Black, and White ones on the other transfer plate and crossed her fingers.

She flipped the switch, and within seconds, bolts of green and pink energy were thrust into the five lifeless Gems. Watching the seven Gems carefully, she grinned when the Black Gem was the first to radiate with warmth and life. _It __**would**__ be Tommy's Gem to be the first to come back,_ she thought wryly. Eventually, all five of the original Dino Gems were pulsing with their vibrant energy.

A glance at her computer showed that they were back online, and that the Zords from the Ninja Storm team, as well as the Dino Thunder team had appeared in the Zord Bay and were recharging. Another click of her mouse, and she satisfied herself that Dragonzord was resting in his underwater cave, and each of the six Thunderzords were also recharging their batteries, so to speak.

Remembering the Thunderzords and their help in the Zedd and Rita battle in September, Kim turned to her computer and began typing away. _I hope this works_, she cringed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I'm sure they'd have contacted us by now if there was anything seriously wrong with Mr. Plum, Mrs. Dumas," Tommy assured his fiancée's mother. It was lunchtime in the Command Center, and Tommy, Stephanie Dumas, John Cranston, and Trini had agreed to make the meal.

Stephanie grinned. "Tommy, within a matter of months you will be married to my daughter and the father of my grandchild. My name is Stephanie to you. And to you, as well, Trini, for the same reason, but opposite genders."

"And my name is John to you both, as well," Dr. Cranston announced, pulling fifteen loaves of bread out of the pantry and laying the slices out in stacks of two.

"Can I help?" came a voice no-one had expected to hear for the next few days.

"Kimberly!" all four adults cried simultaneously. Tommy ran toward her and scooped her in his arms, pinning her against the wall and covering her mouth with his own.

Several moments later, he released her and placed her gently back on the tile. "Wow," she murmured. "If this is the welcome I get, I should go away more often." She offered her famous mega-watt smile, then turned her attention to her parents and Trini, hugging each before addressing their inquiring stares.

"Uncle Frank will be just fine. He's in the hospital still, but the doctor says there shouldn't be any permanent damage. Aunt Ellen doesn't seem concerned about him at all; she's spent more time worrying about the fact that she has a sister that apparently was trying to pass another man's child off as her husband's for almost thirty years, a nephew she's never even heard of, and a niece who has 'disgraced' her by being unmarried and pregnant." She rolled her eyes and offered a lopsided grin to her mother, who had also mastered the art of the 'Burg eye-roll.

"Where's Billy?" Trini asked, looking at her friend with hopeful eyes.

"I'm sorry, Trini; he's still in Trenton," Kim replied, shaking her head. "In fact, I should be getting back there in a little bit, too; I had to come back to the Command Center to finish that project Zordon has me working on, and I got hungry, so I thought I'd stop up here for a bite to eat before teleporting back to Steph's apartment."

"Oh, I see," Trini said, bowing her head sadly.

"Wait a minute!" Tommy shouted, turning to his girlfriend. "You've been back here for a matter of hours, and you never told anybody? Kimberly!"

"Tommy, calm down," Kim soothed, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other around his waist. "I didn't call you because I knew you and I would get distracted with other things, and I really needed to get Zordon's project done for him."

"Which you still haven't told me about, by the way."

"I don't have that right, Tommy!" Kim cried, stepping away. "This is Zordon's project; he has to be the one to decide when everyone knows, not me. He hasn't even told me the reason he wants me to do this, so don't feel that badly. Now, I need a sandwich, because I haven't eaten since seven-thirty this morning, and I'm starved!"

John went to fix his daughter a sandwich, while Kim and Tommy continued to stare at each other. Finally, Tommy's stance softened a bit, and Kim moved herself back to his side and wrapped her arms around his middle. Tommy placed one arm behind her back and the other at the back of her neck, and pressed several kisses into the top of her head.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Twenty minutes later, Kim teleported back into Steph's apartment. The pink energy field around her dissipated just as she heard a large explosion outside. "What the hell?" she wondered aloud, moving to the window and pulling aside the blinds. What she saw there shocked her.

Outside, in the parking lot, her Expedition was engulfed in flames.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Yay! I finally got the chapter posted! OK, so I have permission from another writer here to use her idea for poll questions at the end of each chapter. At the beginning of the next chapter, I'll post the results of the polls as they stand at that time. Anyhow, if there are any poll questions you would like to see used, please do drop me a line and give me your suggestions. I'm always open to them, and, as always, thanks for reading!

**Poll Question: Who is your favorite Power Ranger character, and why? Keep in mind, it can be anybody; it doesn't necessarily have to be a Ranger.**


	13. Explosion!

Lavonne Adams: It's good to see you again, too. I'd forgotten how much fun it is just to spend a morning writing a chapter for this (or any of my other) stories. And don't worry; the explanation for Kim's car getting bombed will all come out in the next couple chapters.

JessAngelus: Hmmm…interesting favorite characters. Kinda gives me something to think about. And don't sweat it about the universe; whenever you remember what you wanted to use it for, just let me know.

GinaStar: It'll be explained in this chapter and the next one about the explosion of Kim's car. And you like the geniuses, huh? I have to admit, I kinda do, too, but they're not my favorites.

Jps1926: Thanks for the review and for taking the time out to read the chapter in the first place. But, the flu…yikes! Maybe I got you sick through the computer or something!

SammmmanthaJ: If you can keep a secret, I have to tell you that I'm a total Babe, too. Actually, I can't stand Morelli and the way he treats Steph. And I'm glad that there's someone reading my story that loves the Stephanie Plum series as much as I do, so don't worry about your "little review freak out". Send as many of them as you like; I thrive on them!

A/N: OK, so everyone has different favorite characters, obviously. Not surprising, since there are nearly eighty to choose from. Mine are kind of odd: since I've only ever seen MMPR, you would think that my favorite characters would come from that season, right? Some of them, yes. I like Kimberly, Trini, and Billy, but I also really like Jen, Ethan, and Kendrix. And Alpha 5…he cracks me up.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Oh…my…God," Kim shrieked, grabbing her coat on her way out the door. Not wanting to wait for the elevator, she flew down the stairs, made a mad dash through the lobby, and burst out the building's front door.

The inferno was worse than she had thought, but it didn't appear to have been going very long. She could still see into the vehicle and make out the outline of the Molotov Cocktail that had been thrown into the back window of the Expedition to start the fire in the first place. She noticed the black Porsche pull into the parking lot at the same moment she remembered that she had just filled her gas tank that morning.

Eyes wide, she turned away from the blazing vehicle and ran as fast as she could, and not a moment too soon. The heat hit the gas tank and the resounding explosion blew Kimberly into the bushes surrounding the property. The car itself jumped at least twenty feet into the air before crashing back onto the pavement. Kim was sitting there, dazedly shaking her head, when she felt a pair of strong arms reach around her and life her to her feet.

Glancing up, she met Ranger's eyes briefly before turning her attention back to her flame-engulfed car.

"Are you alright?" he asked suddenly.

Momentarily startled that he had voluntarily said anything, she nodded dumbly before answering. "Uh…yeah. No permanent damage, thanks." By this point, Kim could hear the sirens in the distance, and took in the two black Broncos pulling into the parking lot, one behind the other.

She and Ranger headed towards the two SUVs as they came to a stop. She could see Bobby and Steph through the windshield of the first Bronco, so assumed that the second one held Billy, Tank, and Lester.

She was right.

"Kim!" Billy shouted, jumping out of the backseat of the second SUV and running towards his sister. "Are you OK?"

Again, she nodded. "I'm fine, Billy." She turned to greet Tank and Lester – who had broken a couple traffic laws to get her brother there before the emergency vehicles – and Bobby and Stephanie, who had come straight from the house of one of her skips, who only lived a few blocks away.

The fire truck, an ambulance, and several cop cars were pulling up around the inferno, so Kim, Stephanie, and the guys moved to the edge of the property to give them some room to work. Several of the cops – including Joe Morelli – made their way over to Stephanie.

"Eddie, this wasn't my fault!" she cried to one of the cops, gesturing to the fire.

"Steph, you always say it's not your fault, and it always is!" Eddie laughed, then turned to Kim. "Hi, Kimberly. Nice to see you again."

Kim smiled. She really liked Eddie Gazarra, despite his taste in women. Eddie had married Kim, Billy, and Steph's cousin, Shirley. Kim and Steph had nicknamed her "The Whiner" when they were kids, and the nickname still accurately described her.

"Hi Eddie. How are Shirley and the kids?" she answered politely, trying to get the attention off of Stephanie.

It didn't work.

"Cupcake, _another_ bomb?" Morelli demanded. "Just how many attempts on your life have to happen before I finally convince you that you need to give up this ridiculous idea that you think you can be a bounty hunter? Do you know how fucking embarrassing it is for me to watch my colleagues make bets on the next car my girlfriend will destroy, and how?"

Kim bristled at his tone. "Steph, why do you put up with this shit?" she asked, giving her cousin a confused glance. "Honestly, in the 24 hours that Billy and I have been here, I haven't heard Detective Asshole here say one nice thing to you."

"I told you to mind your own business, little girl," Joe threatened menacingly, grabbing Kim's arm and squeezing hard.

"Joe! Let her go!" Steph cried, grabbing at him. He shrugged her off, though, and pushed her away. Billy moved to help her and Ranger and his guys straightened a little, but Kim shook her head imperceptibly.

She grabbed his arm with her free hand and pulled up. "_Don't_ touch me," she glared at him before kneeing him in the back and pulling down on his arm, forcing him to flip around and land – hard – on his face. "And I think Ranger mentioned this morning not to underestimate me, didn't he?" she reminded the cop, straightening her body and heading to her cousin and brother.

Billy had already helped Stephanie up and had looked her over to be sure she hadn't injured herself when Joe had pushed her down. He glanced up at Kim and nodded his head to assure her that Steph wasn't harmed.

"You're under arrest for assaulting a cop, little girl," Joe sneered, picking himself up and pulling a pair of cuffs out of his back pocket.

"You cannot be serious!" Bobby demanded, glancing at Eddie and two of the other cops on the scene, Carl Costanza and his partner Big Dog.

"Brown's right, Joe," Carl mentioned. "Dr. Cranston was defending herself and Steph. There isn't enough to charge her and you know it." Morelli glared at the other cop.

The firemen had finished putting the fire out and were packing up their hoses. One of them came over to Kimberly and showed her the Molotov Cocktail that had started it, and a manila envelope that had been found placed under a rock, ostensibly to keep it from blowing away.

Kim opened the envelope and found several photos of Stephanie…a couple, with Kim, outside the bonds office this morning. One of the ones outside the office had Bobby in it, and Kim was tapping her communicator; she paled at that one, but let it go. The others were all of Steph and Bobby outside various houses and apartment buildings, probably during the last few hours of skip tracing, if the people in handcuffs in some of the photos were any indication.

Wordlessly, Kim handed the photos over to Stephanie and watched her cousin's reaction closely. Steph, growing a little more pale with every photo she came to, glanced up at her when she was finished.

"Kim, I am _so_ sorry!" she wailed pitifully. "Why does this crap keep happening to me?" she demanded to no one in particular.

"Babe," Ranger said, walking over to Stephanie.

"Steph, relax. Breathe," Kim demanded, placing both hands on Stephanie's shoulders.

"How can you be so calm?" Steph shrieked. "Your car was just bombed because of me! Yet another source of amusement for the entire city from the one and only 'Bombshell Bounty Hunter'!" She gestured to Ranger, Bobby, Tank, and Lester. "Did you know that RangeMan has an amusement account set up, and that it's dedicated to me? And did you know that the entire Trenton Police Department bets on my life? Did you?" she demanded, shrugging out of her cousin's grasp.

Kim moved back in front of her. "It's just a car," she pointed out. "It doesn't matter. I'm just glad you weren't inside of it when it _was_ bombed; _that_ would have been a disaster."

"That's what Ranger says, every time I destroy one of _his_ cars," Steph sniffled, managing a teeny smile.

Kim grinned at the mercenary, who had an almost-smile in place. "Yeah, well, Ranger sounds pretty smart to me," she replied, then thought about what Steph had said. "Wait a second, is there anyone that _wouldn't_ say that if you destroyed one of their cars?"

When Steph, Ranger, Bobby, Tank, Lester, Eddie, Carl, and Big Dog shot their gazes to Morelli, Kim rolled her eyes. "Of course," she muttered.

"Hey, she's destroyed _two_ brand-new trucks of mine!" Morelli defended himself. "She really ought to come with a warning or something. Besides," he looked at Kim. "You didn't really mean it when you told her the car doesn't matter. Neither does Manoso; you're both just trying to encourage her to keep a job she has no business keeping."

"Actually, I never say anything I don't mean, and I suspect, neither does Ranger," Kim retorted. "The car is a _thing_. A fully-insured thing, at that. Besides, I have another one. Anyhow, it's replaceable; Stephanie is not." She linked arms with her cousin before getting one more dig in to the cop. "And anyone who loved her, would think the same thing."

"Are you implying that I don't _love_ my own girlfriend?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, did I imply that?" Kim asked, sounding innocent. "I _do_ apologize; that's not what I meant to imply at all." At his self-satisfied smirk, she added, "I meant to say it outright."

"Cupcake, are you gonna stand there and let your cousin talk to me like that?" Joe asked, hands on hips.

"First of all, Morelli," Stephanie straightened and stepped towards him. "Kimberly is an American citizen. If I recall my college government classes correctly, that gives her the freedom to say whatever the hell she wants. Secondly, she's also an _adult_, so even if she didn't have the freedom of speech, I still couldn't dictate what she said. And third, I told you this morning that you and I were over. Take a hint and get lost!"

"Nicely said, Bombshell!" Lester applauded, clapping his hands.

Joe glared at the group assembled, before storming to his truck, shoving himself into the driver's seat, and peeling out of the parking lot. Carl and Big Dog watched him go, then said their goodbyes and headed to their squad car. Eddie, as the first patrolman on the scene, had to finish taking Kim's statement before he could leave.

Once he had gotten all pertinent information from her and was satisfied that she hadn't seen who had actually thrown the cocktail into the car, he had her sign her statement and got into his own squad car to head back to the station.

"Proud of you, Babe," Ranger said to Stephanie, once all emergency personnel had left the property and the crowd of bystanders had dispersed. The tow truck arrived a few minutes later and, after getting Kim's signature, the driver attached the charred remains of the Expedition to the back of his truck and towed it away.

Bobby took in the setting sun and mumbled, "You know, with all the excitement today, I'm kind of hungry."

Kim brightened. "Well, I hope so, because I'm fixing a feast!" she mentioned.

"Kimberly, you don't still have to make dinner," Ranger offered. "I can call Ella – my housekeeper – up and tell her that we need her to make dinner after all."

"No way!" Kim argued. "I told you I was making dinner, and I'm going to. Don't mess with a pregnant woman's cravings! Besides, I have this new recipe for Carrot Ginger soup that I've been wanting to try."

"If you insist," he replied. "Brown, you're with Kimberly. Carry whatever she needs you to; I'll take Steph to turn in her body receipts to Connie before the bonds office closes."

"Sure thing, Boss," Bobby answered. "Let's roll, Rocketeer!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Three hours later, everyone was pushing back their plates around Ranger's dining room table, completely stuffed.

"That was great, Kim, but I'm full now," Stephanie announced, leaning back in her chair.

"Rocket, where'd you get the recipe for the Papaya Salad?" Tank asked. "It was better than any I've ever eaten in a restaurant.

Kim smiled. "Thanks. Actually, my best friend – and Billy's fiancée, for that matter – is a mix of Vietnamese and Thai. The recipe is her mother's."

Just then, Steph's phone blared out the theme to "The Exorcist". Kim hid a smile in her Thai Iced Tea, knowing the ringtone was attached to her Aunt Ellen's number. Kim loved her aunt, but sometimes she just wanted to tell her to shut up and leave Stephanie the hell alone. Like Morelli, Aunt Ellen was always trying to change Steph into something she wasn't.

Stephanie hung up from her argument with her mother and sighed dejectedly. "Mom wants to know why no one else has a niece that gets her car blown up within a day of arriving in town, or why no one else has a disappointing daughter, for that matter, that breaks up with her boyfriend in front of the entire Trenton Emergency Services team."

Ranger, Tank, Lester, and Bobby looked pissed. "I don't get it, Bomber!" Bobby practically shouted. "I don't understand how someone as bitter and cold as your mother could possibly have given birth to someone as warm and loving and accepting as you!"

"Stephanie spent a lot of time with Kim and my mom when we were growing up," Billy offered. "Kim and I didn't live together, of course, because we didn't realize yet that we were twins, but Dad and I lived just a few doors down. I'd say Steph was there at least every summer for as far back as I can remember, until Kim left for the Pan Globals in '96."

Stephanie nodded. "I did spend an awful lot of time with them. Like Billy said, I was there all summer, every summer, for my entire childhood. I was also there every Christmas break and Spring break during school."

"My mom and Aunt Ellen may be identical twins," Kim supplied. "But the similarities are only on the outside."

"Yeah," Steph added. "Where my mom is critical and unsupportive, Aunt Stephanie is great. She never once told me I couldn't do something."

Kim giggled. "Yeah, like, do you remember the time when you thought you could fly, so you climbed up on the roof and jumped off it?"

"Oh, yeah!" Steph's eyes lit up. "I _do_ remember that. I was about eight or nine, so Steph must have been about four or five. She and her mom were here in Trenton to pick me up for the summer. Everyone else – my parents, Grandma and Grandpa Mazur, and even Uncle Steve – were all telling me I was crazy and that I should get the hell off the roof!" She gave up the story, laughing hysterically, so Kim picked it up.

"Only my mom and I were telling her, 'If you think you can do it, you should find out!' So she did. She jumped off the damn roof and broke her leg, but at least she tried! Aunt Ellen practically packed her off with us to keep 'such a troublesome child' from causing her any more problems that summer." Kim was laughing so hard, too, that she almost missed the chime.

_Beep Beep BeepBeepBeepBeep!_ Billy sighed and pressed the "Talk" button on his communicator.

"What's up, Zordon?" he asked.

"RANGERS, SOMETHING HAS COME UP AND YOU ARE NEEDED BACK AT THE COMMAND CENTER. BRING YOUR COUSIN AND HER FRIENDS; THEY MAY BE NEEDED."

"Right away, Zordon," Kim announced, standing up. Wryly, she and her brother glanced at each other.

"Back to action," they shrugged.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Poll Question: Do you think Ranger should make a play for Stephanie? Should she go back to Morelli? Neither? What's the reason behind your answer?**


	14. Legacy of Power

Gigletrig: You're right: Morelli _is_ a dick...and he thinks with one, too. I'm still debating if I want to do the Ranger/Steph pair up...I think it could be explosive, so I'll take it slow and see what happens. These characters have a way of choosing their own lives without my input, if you know what I mean.

JessAngelus: If you want to follow Karone and Zhane, please do...I wouldn't know how to create their world, so I'm glad someone wants to go at it. I have only one restriction: if you bring in other Rangers, please remember the pairs I have them set up in...i.e. Andros and Tori. You can go back in the story to find out, or email me and I'll be happy to send you a list. And if you do write this story, I'll read and comment, just as you have been here, and I'll mention it in an author's note in my story so others will read it, too. Back to your review: I hate Morelli. And I love Ranger. I think a pair between Ranger and Stephanie could be great. We'll see where it goes. And you'll see what I'm going to do with the "extra" powers, probably in this chapter.

Jps1926: I'm glad you're feeling better, although you've probably been feeling better for months now and I haven't been writing. Sorry about that...computer system crash and I lost all my work. I agree with the idea that Ranger and Steph should wait a little. I don't want the other Rangers to think that she's flaky or rebounding, even though I know Ranger wouldn't think that. It's odd, me talking about the characters as if they're real, but they _seem_ real, and they rarely ever do what I want them to do. Hmmm...Kim kicking Stephanie's butt...that would be interesting. And it brings up a good point...Steph, even though she's a bounty hunter, has no self-defense training. Hmmm...pondering, pondering.

GinaStar: OK, I'm back...my computer is FINALLY back up and running, and even though I lost all my previous work (including the nearly-finished chapter I was about to put out), I think I can improvise and re-create what it was. Ranger and Steph _do_ have complementing personalities: she's impulsive, brash, impatient, and lucky; he's quiet, thoughtful, disciplined, and smart. They make a good pair.

Lavonne Adams: Hmmm...trash...that would be an interesting sight to see! You're giving me ideas here, LA, and they are devious!

TrueRomantic: So you like established couples. I do, too, usually. I just thought I'd shake things up a little to see what happened. Anyhow, I don't like Morelli any more than you do, so Steph will _definitely_ not be going back to him! As for Ranger, we'll see how it goes.

A/N: I have to apologize _yet again_ for my very long absence from this story. Actually, from all my stories...I have them on a rotating schedule, and I was working on this one and had it nearly finished, when my computer crashed and was down for a month and a half. But it's up now and I am back on my rotating schedule. As for my latest poll: not one person wants Steph to go back to Morelli, and everyone wants her to hook up with Ranger at some point or another. I agree...I hate Morelli. He's a jerk in the books (at least to me...a lot of people like him, but I can't stand him) and that's how I made him here.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What's going on, Zordon?" Billy asked once he and Kim had teleported themselves, Stephanie, Ranger, Tank, Lester, and Bobby back to the Command Center. Tommy, Trini, Adam, Kendrix, Dana, and Jason were already there typing commands into the various computers and search programs.

"Big trouble, that's what, bro," Jason inserted, looking up briefly from his work.

Tommy came up to Kim, bent his head for a kiss, then clapped his hand on Billy's shoulder before turning his attention to his guests. "Welcome to the Command Center," he said, holding his hand out to Steph, who took it timidly. "I wish it could be under better circumstances than this."

"This is Tommy Oliver, he's the Green ranger from the Morphin' team, as well as the _White_ Morphin' and Ninjetti Rangers, the Red Zeo and Turbo Rangers, and the Black Dino Thunder Ranger - we're always wondering what new color or power he'll come up with next -" Tommy gave Kim a mock scowl at that comment, "not to mention he's the leader of the Power Rangers," she informed the newcomers.

Ignoring Tommy's crossed look, she continued, "The gentleman in black over there is Adam Park, the second Black Morphin' Ranger, the Black Ninjetti Ranger, and the Green Zeo and Turbo Rangers. The young lady with him is Kendrix Morgan, his girlfriend, also the first Pink Galaxy Ranger and currently our Peach Ninjetti Ranger. Then we have Jason Scott, the first Red Morphin' Ranger, the Gold Zeo Ranger, and currently the Gold Ninjetti Ranger, and next to him is his girlfriend Dana Mitchell, the Pink Lightspeed Rescue Ranger. And the stunning beauty that is right now kissing on my brother is Trini Kwan, the original Yellow Morphin' Ranger, and currently the Lavender Ninjetti Ranger. Guys, this is my cousin, Stephanie Plum, the big guy on the end there is Tank, this is Ranger, the goofball next to me is Lester Santos, and on the other side of him is Bobby Brown."

Once everyone had said hello, Billy went back to Jason's comment. "What 'big trouble'? If Vile's after Kimberly and Jen again, I'll kick his ass," he threatened.

"Vile's involved, that much we _do_ know," Adam stated, still typing away on his keyboard.

"What we _don't_ know is how much he's involved," Kendrix supplied, glancing at a readout. "We've got energy surges from all over the universe, and they're not good ones, if you catch my drift."

Billy and Kimberly, in Ranger Scientist mode, moved to new consoles and began typing in their commands. Kimberly brought up an interactive, holographic map of the universe, highlighting the galaxies she knew held evil overlords. She saw something flashing on her holograph and zoomed in. Once she got a clear image of it, she gasped and spun around, glaring at Tommy and Jason.

"I thought you destroyed it!" she accused. "I thought at least that _Cole_ had destroyed it! How the hell could you not have told us that it was still out there?"

"Sis, what _are_ you talking about?" Jason demanded, heading over to her console. He blanched when he noticed what was on her screen. "It _was_ destroyed; I saw it explode!" he avowed, staring at the image of Zedd's oversized personal zord in disbelief.

"RANGERS," Zordon intervened, "DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY BELIEVE, THIS MACHINE IS NOT SERPENTERA. JASON IS CORRECT: SERPENTERA WAS DESTROYED WHEN THE RED RANGERS WENT TO BATTLE THE REMAINS OF THE MACHINE EMPIRE ON THE MOON. SENSORS INDICATE THAT VILE HAS CREATED A DUPLICATE ZORD IN ORDER TO TAKE OVER THE EARTH. HOWEVER, DESPITE THE FACT THAT THIS ZORD _LOOKS_ EXACTLY THE SAME AS SERPENTERA, IT IS IN FACT MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN THE ORIGINAL, AND WILL NEED TO BE DESTROYED JUST AS THE PREVIOUS ONE WAS."

"How, Zordon?" Billy asked, worry evident on his face.

"MUCH OF THE ANSWER WILL HAVE TO DO WITH WHETHER OR NOT KIMBERLY HAS COMPLETED THE TASK I ASSIGNED TO HER A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO," the mentor replied.

"I finished it, Zordon," Kim nodded.

"WONDERFUL. THEN IF YOU WOULD BE SO KIND AS TO FETCH IT WHILE BILLY AND TRINI CALL THE RANGERS TOGETHER FOR A MEETING?"

"Right away, Zordon," the trio affirmed. Billy and Trini turned to the consoles, while Kim headed for the elevator. She was back momentarily, and within moments afterward, the room began filling with the various Rangers and Ranger parents. Kim nudged Steph when she noticed her parents enter the room, and Steph shrieked.

"Aunt Steph!" she cride, running over and throwing her arms around the older woman.

"Stephanie!" Mrs. Dumas replied, clutching her niece fiercely. "It's so good to see you, Sweetheart! How's Frank?" As the two chatted, Ranger and his men came closer to Kimberly.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day," Bobby murmured, still staring at aunt and niece.

"See what?" Kim looked at all four men confusedly.

"We never thought we'd see the day where someone that looks exactly like Bomber's mother would hug her unceremoniously, and seem to accept her with no strings attached," Lester supplied. The other men nodded their agreement.

"My mother doesn't work that way." Kim settled back, taking in the streaks of color materializing before her. "We told you, the similarities between my mother and Steph's are purely skin deep. Their insides: that's another thing entirely." She moved to embrace Cole and Maya, who, she noted amusedly, had gone back to Baltimore the day before in order to make some extra space at the Command Center.

With a mental note to have a conference with Billy and Adam after this latest excitement was over, and noticing that every Ranger from every incarnation of Power Rangers - from Morphin' right on down to Mystic Force - had arrived (even those from other times and galaxies), she turned her attention to the front of the room, where Zordon, Dimetria, Commander Stanton, High Commander Renier, Captain Mitchell, Captain Logan, Princess Shayla, Sensei, Commander Cruger, and Udonna were assembled.

Zordon was the first to address the crowd. "BEFORE WE BEGIN, I WOULD LIKE FIRST TO ASK OUR GUESTS TO COME FORWARD," he requested.

Stephanie turned frightened eyes to Kimberly and Billy before moving behind Ranger.

"Don't worry, Steph," Billy reassured his cousin. "Zordon just needs to set a few ground rules. You aren't in any trouble." At Kimberly's encouraging nod, Steph relaxed visibly and turned her attention to the Ranger leaders.

"YOUR COUSINS ARE CORRECT, STEPHANIE," Zordon affirmed. When he noticed that the Rangers and their parents had switched places, with the Rangers now around the edge of the room and the parents and other guests in the middle, he grinned down.

"I AM A TEMPERATE BEING, ABLE TO TOLERATE MANY THINGS. ONE THING I WILL NOT TOLERATE, HOWEVER, IS DISOBEDIENCE. MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN SHOCKED WITHIN THE LAST TWO DAYS TO FIND OUT THAT YOUR OWN CHILDREN HAVE BEEN KEEPING A SECRET FROM YOU FOR MORE THAN TEN YEARS. A SECRET THAT HAS, I AM SURE, SAVED YOUR VERY LIVES ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION.

"I NOW ASK YOU TO RETURN THE FAVOR. NO ONE OUTSIDE OF THIS ROOM MAY KNOW THE IDENTITIES OF THE POWER RANGERS; THE RESULTS COULD BECOME DISASTROUS FOR THEM. I NEED YOU ALL TO KEEP THEIR SECRET FOR THEM. MAY I COUNT ON YOU TO DO THIS - NOT FOR ME, BUT FOR THE CHILDREN YOU AND I CARE SO MUCH ABOUT?" At everyone's dumbfounded nods, Zordon continued.

"THEN PLEASE REPEAT THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT: 'WE SOLEMNLY SWEAR NEVER TO REVEAL THE IDENTITIES OF THE POWER RANGERS, AND TO ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES LAID FORTH AT THIS MEETING.'" The words were repeated, at which time Zordon turned his attention to Stephanie specifically.

"IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION ALSO THAT YOU HAVE RECENTLY BEEN ENDOWED WITH ONE OF OUR POWERS. IS THAT CORRECT, STEPHANIE?"

At her frightened nod and her stammered 'Y-y-y-yes, s-s-s-sir," he nodded wisely and continued.

"VERY WELL. RELAX, CHILD. WILLIAM SPOKE TRULY; I AM NOT UPSET WITH YOU, BUT THERE ARE THREE RULES YOU MUST FOLLOW, OR YOU WILL UNFORTUNATELY BE STRIPPED OF YOUR POWER. THE FIRST IS, NEVER USE YOUR POWER FOR PERSONAL GAIN. SECONDLY, NEVER ESCALATE A BATTLE UNLESS THE ENEMY FORCES YOU TO. AND FINALLY, NEVER REVEAL TO ANYONE THAT YOU ARE A POWER RANGER. DO YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS?"

Stephanie nodded enthusiastically, relieved. "Yes, sir!" she cried, much less terrified than before.

"THEN WELCOME TO THE TEAM, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU."

The Rangers moved to welcome their new comrade, but Tommy thought about it for a moment before turning back to his leader. "Power?" he asked. "What power has she gotten?"

"THAT, TOMMY, HAS TO DO WITH THE REASON YOU WERE ALL SUMMONED TOGETHER. RANGERS," the Rangers resumed their places before their leaders. "VILE HAS RECENTLY BUILT A PERSONAL ZORD NEARLY IDENTICAL TO SERPENTERA." At the Rangers' distressed gasps, he continued. "THIS ONE, HOWEVER, IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL AND WILL BE MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO DEFEAT."

"We have to try, Zordon!" Wes asserted. Jen nodded her agreement, taking her place beside the Red Time Force Ranger.

"It's not that simple, Wes. I wish it were," Captain Logan stated quietly.

"UNFORTUNATELY, RANGERS, CAPTAIN LOGAN IS CORRECT. BEHOLD THE VIEWING GLOBE." Everyone turned their attention to the screens behind them. There, they saw every living villain they had ever battled - and some that they had never seen before - coming out of the woodwork. Vile was there, as was Divatox, of course; King Mondo and Queen Machina; Sprocket, Gasket, and Archerina; Maligore; Scorpius and Trakeena; Diabolico, Vypra, and Queen Bansheera; Gluto; Master Org; Lothor; Mesogog and Elsa; Emperor Gruumm; Imperious; and Morticon.

"Zordon, how? I mean, half of these guys were killed or destroyed, or something kind of like it," Kimberly asked.

"NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR ENEMIES, KIMBERLY. THEIR POWER IS GREAT."

"Hey, who's this guy?" Adam asked, pointing to a villain he had never seen before, but who had features similar to another one he knew very well. "He kind of looks like Lord Zedd, only uglier."

"Is that even possible?" Rocky asked, grinning.

Trini winced. "That is Zedd and Rita's son, Thrax. I met him when I was imprisoned in their Moon Palace. He thought I might make a great future Empress someday." She shuddered, moving closer to Billy, who held her close. "I guess, when we defeated Zedd and Rita, he inherited Zedd's throne," she suggested, pointing out Zedd's staff in Thrax's hands.

"THAT IS CORRECT, TRINI. SENSORS INDICATE THAT THRAX AND HIS GRANDFATHER HAVE CALLED THE VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE EVIL ALLIANCE TOGETHER TO DEFEAT YOU ALL, ONCE AND FOR ALL."

"How do we stop them, Zordon?" Tommy asked, the wheels already turning in his head. There were just under seventy Rangers in his command at the moment, which put them at barely a 3-1 ratio, Rangers to Villains, and that was without the lesser henchmen, monsters, and "grunt" armies the aliens were sure to dish out. Those odds weren't pretty, but he'd seen some pretty amazing things come out of his teams before. They might have a small chance, if they could just figure out...

Luckily, Zordon had done the thinking for him. "YOU ARE ALL UNDOUBTEDLY WONDERING HOW YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO THIS. YOU WILL SPLIT INTO EIGHT TEAMS, DIVIDED BY COLOR, AND WILL EACH HAVE A SEPARATE TASK ASSIGNED TO YOU."

"But we have many more than eight colors represented, Zordon," Lucas pointed out, gesturing to his girlfriend's coral blouse.

"That is where Kimberly's project will come into play," Sensei remarked.

The crowd turned their attention to the Pink Ranger, who took a deep breath and nodded. "OK, I guess it's my turn to talk. Zordon asked me to stay behind the other night after we...after Jen and I...were...well, anyway, I thought he wanted to give me a pep talk about how my stepfather's death couldn't have been prevented-"

"Which it couldn't have, Kimberly," her mother interjected. "Please stop blaming yourself."

The Rangers around Stephanie Dumas glared at her and "sh-sh-sh"ed her before turning their attention back to their friend. "Yeah, well, he did say something to that affect, but then he gave me this box of morphers and asked me to restore their powers."

"You mean that you actually..." Tori started, but trailing off before she could finish her thought.

"It took some doing, and a little ingenuity, but it's finished. When I call your name, come up and I'll hand you your morphers, just please hold your questions until I'm finished, since most of them have to be answered by Zordon anyhow." The other Rangers agreed to her request, so she sighed and continued.

"Jason, Trini, Billy, Zack, and Tommy," she announced. The five came up, and she handed Jason his Tyrannosaurus Power Coin, Trini her Sabertooth Tiger Power Coin, Billy his Triceratops Power Coin, and Zack his Mastadon Power Coin. To Tommy, however, she handed not one but two Power Coins - his Dragonzord Power Coin and his White Tiger Power Coin. Tears glistening in his eyes, he leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss.

"I love you," he murmured, so low that she was the only one to hear him.

"I love you too, Handsome." She took out her Pterodactyl Power Coin and slipped it into her back pocket for safekeeping before turning to her next box.

"Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Kat, and Tanya, please come up here." They did as she asked, and Kimberly opened the box, pulling out the first two items. She handed Kat her Pink Zeo Crystal and Zeonizer, Tanya her Yellow ones, Rocky his Blue ones, Adam his Green ones, and Tommy his Red ones.

"TJ, Ashley, Cassie, Carlos Valertes, and Justin," she called next. She pulled out the Red Turbo Morpher and Key and handed them to TJ, gave the Blue set to Justin, the Green set to Carlos, the Yellow set to Ashley, and the Pink set to Cassie before placing the empty lead box down and picking up the next one.

"Andros, TJ, Carlos, Ashley, Cassie, and Zhane." She handed the Space Rangers their Astro Morphers, accepting a high five from Cassie, before turning to her next task.

"Kendrix and Mike, I'm sorry, but I can't restore your Galaxy Powers," she apologized. "Kendrix because, well, it's currently in use by Karone, and Mike because your power was completely demolished."

"That's OK, Kim; we understand," Kendrix assured her. Mike nodded his agreement, and Kimberly accepted it before picking up the next box.

"Cole," she grinned.

"Really?" Cole jumped excitedly, running over to her. "I thought for sure you were going to tell me that you couldn't fix it, or something!"

Kim shook her head and placed the Growl Phone into his outstretched hand. "Nope. Good as new," she declared. Cole was so thrilled he threw his arms around her, squeezing her tight, before heading back to his place beside Maya. Kim giggled and turned to her next box.

"Shane, Dustin, Tori, Hunter, Blake, and Cam." Sensei watched with a deep sense of satisfaction as Shane, Dustin, and Tori received their renewed Wind Discs and Wind Morphers from Kimberly, remembering the last time they had used them. Kim handed Hunter and Blake their Thunder Discs and Thunder Morphers and Cam his mother's Samurai Amulet.

"Conner, Kira, Ethan, Tommy, Trent, and Stephanie," she announced, watching the clouds of confusion descend upon faces. Tommy reached her first and accepted his Black Dino Gem and Morpher from Kimberly before leaning in close and whispering, "What's this about your cousin?"

"You'll see," she whispered back, giving him a quick kiss, before handing Kira her Yellow Dino Gem and Morpher, Conner his Red Dino Gem and Morpher, Ethan his Blue Dino Gem and Morpher, and Trent his White Dino Gem and Morpher. She turned to her cousin, who was again watching her with trepidation, and grinned.

"OK, so I know that everyone thought that there were only five Dino Gems; so did I," she began. "But when Zordon handed me the morphers the other day, there were _seven_ gems in the box." She handed Stephanie her Green Dino Gem and the new Morpher she had fashioned for her that afternoon, then shocked the room yet again when she pulled out her own Pink Dino Gem and her new Morpher that had also been created that afternoon.

"Pink?" Kira squeaked.

"You?" Tommy breathed, all amazement.

"Hey, what can I say? Pink's the new Black!" Kim quipped, a sly smile on her face. Tommy threw his head back and chuckled, coming up to her and hauling her into his arms.

"Should we try and morph, to see if the powers are really there?" Tori asked, already one step ahead of the others.

"Well, all my equipment says every morpher and power source is online, but it is possible that a mistake was made somewhere," Kim replied. "I _am_ human, after all."

"ON GENERAL PRINCIPLE, I DO NOT LIKE THE IDEA OF MORPHING FOR NO REASON. HOWEVER, IN THIS INSTANCE, I BELIEVE IT IS BETTER TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION THAN TO GO INTO BATTLE WITH A DEFECTIVE MORPHER," Zordon acquiesced.

"All right!" Cole shouted.

"Are you guys ready?" Conner asked, showing his morpher-clad wrist.

"Ready!" Ethan, Kira, Tommy, Trent, Kim, and Stephanie replied, mimicking his movements.

"Dino Thunder, Power Up!" called Conner, Ethan, Kira, Tommy, and Kim, with the younger Rangers adding "Ha!" onto the end of their morphing call.

"White Ranger, Dino Power!" shouted Trent.

"Green Ranger, Dino Power! Ha!" echoed Stephanie, copying the others' movements to get the morphing sequence correct.

The seven Rangers felt their uniforms take the place of their clothing and their helmets slip into place before seeing the others out the tinted visors of their helmets.

"Sweet!" Ethan grinned, taking off his helmet.

Stephanie's uniform looked exactly like Kira's, except it was the same color as Tommy's original suit. Tommy came to inspect her morpher, to determine what her dinosaur affiliation would be.

"Parasaurolophus," he announced, unsurprised.

"A what?" Steph asked, confused.

"Parasaur," Tommy repeated. "An herbivoric hadrosaur, approximately 10 meters in length, hailing from the Late Cretaceous Period, with an elongated crest curving up and back across the cranium. Could switch between being bipedal and quadrupedal."

Stephanie turned a blank look to Billy, who took pity on her. "A plant-eating dinosaur that was around 33 feet long that had a long tube sticking out of its head. They lived about 73-76 million years ago, liked living near water, and could choose to walk on two legs or four," he translated.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Tommy demanded.

"Yes, Handsome, but you've been friends with Billy too long; you've learned 'Billybabble'," Kim soothed.

Kim's uniform was her same Pink color, with the skirt like Kira's, but with silver diamonds along the sides instead of white or gold. On her morpher was the head of a flat-headed dinosaur she wasn't familiar with.

"Maiasaurus," Tommy announced. "'Good Mother Lizard' - it suits you, Beautiful."

"Your zords are online, too," Hayley announced from her computer, where she had been inputting data. "Looks like Alpha 5 located them the other day and they have been 'resting' in the zord bay since then. And Kim's have hatched. There are two, it looks like: her Maiazord, and a Firebird of some sort, maybe a Phoenix?"

"Why would a Dino Ranger have a mystical being as a zord?" Nick asked.

"It's probably just a Firebird, not a Phoenix," Kim replied. "Firebird was my second zord affiliation, and they tend to be overprotective...they make good mothers, as well. Maybe it's a symbolic affiliation?"

"Well, whatever the reason, it looks awesome, and I'm sure it's gonna be a great addition to the zord lineup!" Conner announced, glancing over Hayley's shoulder.

"Ninja Rangers, it is your turn to try out your morphers," Sensei announced.

"Ready?" Shane asked.

"Ready!" Dustin, Tori, Hunter, Blake, and Cam replied.

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!" called Shane, Dustin, and Tori.

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form!" shouted Hunter and Blake.

"Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!" finished Cam.

The six Rangers examined their uniforms before trading high-fives. "Kim, you're a genius!" Dustin chortled delightedly.

Kim blushed. "Glad you guys approve," she responded.

Cole, still excited that Kim had found a way to restore his powers, pulled out his Growl Phone. "Wild Access!" he announced. His clothes disappeared and his old red Wild Force uniform materialized, the helmet snapping into place.

The Space Rangers took their places in the center of the room, glancing at their Astro Morphers. Andros nodded at each of them before flipping his morpher open. "Let's Rocket!" they shouted together.

Once they had determined that their Astro Morphers worked, TJ, Carlos, Cassie, and Ashley demorphed and Justin joined their group. "Shift into Turbo!" TJ demanded, he and his Rangers inserting the keys into the morphers and having their clothing replaced once again by spandex.

"Awesome!" Justin cried.

"Ready, guys?" Tommy, now demorphed from his Dino Thunder uniform, inquired.

"Ready!" responded Adam, Rocky, Tanya, and Kat.

"Let's do it. It's Morphin' Time!" Tommy announced.

"Zeo Ranger I - Pink!" called Kat.

"Zeo Ranger II - Yellow!" shouted Tanya.

"Zeo Ranger III - Blue!" Rocky rejoined.

"Zeo Ranger IV - Green!" Adam bellowed.

"Zeo Ranger V - Red!" Tommy finished.

As the Zeo Rangers removed their helmets after morphing, Kimberly eyed her fiancé appraisingly. So much so that he squirmed under her gaze.

"What?" he finally demanded.

"I don't know about the red," she admitted.

"You're just used to seeing me in white," he bantered back.

"Ooh, speaking of which!" she demorphed and pulled out her Power Coin, holding it up for Tommy to see.

"Right!" he demorphed himself. "Ready, guys?" he asked, pulling his morpher out of his back pocket.

"Ready!" Jason, Zack, Trini, Billy, and Kimberly affirmed.

"Let's do it. It's Morphin' Time!"

"Mastadon!"

"Pterodactyl!"

"Triceratops!"

"Sabertooth Tiger!"

"Tyrannosaurus!"

"Tigerzord!"

Once their morphing sequence was complete, they removed their helmets and were astonished at the changes in their uniforms. They were the same style, but built stronger-looking. In fact, they looked like armor.

"Kimberly, what did you do?" Trini asked, fingering the changes in her uniform wonderingly.

Tommy, getting an idea, demorphed one last time.

"It's Morphin' Time!" he called once again. "Dragonzord!" For the fourth time in as many minutes, Tommy's clothes disappeared to be replaced by a Power Ranger uniform. This one, however, was green with a gold shield. It too, though, had the same armored look as the other six.

"I didn't make any alterations to uniforms, I swear!" Kim defended.

"SHE IS CORRECT, RANGERS. SHE DID NOT CHANGE YOUR UNIFORMS; I DID. I WANTED THE ORIGINAL SEVEN COLORS TO BE THE LEADERS FOR SEVEN OF OUR TEAMS. THE ARMORED LOOK WAS ALSO TO MAKE THEM EASILY IDENTIFIABLE FROM THE NINJETTI RANGERS OF THE SAME COLOR, SINCE THEIR UNIFORMS ARE IDENTICAL."

"That makes sense, kinda," Conner grimaced. Kira smacked him upside his head.

"OK, so how are we going to do this?" Adam asked. "I mean, most of us have at least two powers. _Some of us_," with a good natured shove at Tommy, "have five. We can't very well be in more than one place at once, can we?"

"Yeah, Zordon, how are we gonna distribute the extra powers we have, when we all have powers that work?" Jason demanded.

"An excellent question, Rangers," Commander Stanton fielded. "And one that we think we have a solution to."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N Dum-da-dum-dum! What do you think will happen? Will they all have to give up their extra powers and use the ones they have? Is there a way they could use those powers on their tasks and still keep the ones they already have? Stay tuned next time for the exciting conclusion of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers! (I know, I know, it's corny. So sue me!)

**Poll Question:** ** What was your favorite Power Rangers team-up, and why?**


	15. Power Lineup

Gigletrig: Yep, they all have their powers back now. Trouble is, there are now a lot more _powers_ than there are_ Rangers_. Wonder how that's gonna work? Well, you won't have to wait very long to find out, since the answer's gonna be explained in this chapter. Yay for quick updates! Forever Red was a good one. It was the first one I ever saw (yes, I have now seen episodes from seasons after the third one. Yay for that too!), but I think that technically the Wild Force/Time Force team-up comes first. Anyhow, it _was_ awesome to see those ten Red Rangers together.

GinaStar: I'm so glad you liked the chapter, and thank you for the blessings on the computer. Let's hope it stays fixed (crossing my fingers)!

Olmedo: I'm glad you're liking the story, and that you like _Rainbow of Friendship_ so much, too. Yup, all the powers are back, and a few new ones, and you'll find out in this chapter what happens to them all. And we won't know until the end if Kim beats the Leukemia or not...just gonna have to keep reading to find out! Also, are you reading my "Superman" story, too? I thought I noticed you had reviewed once or twice there.

A/N: Yay, I got an update out in less than two months! Well, there was only one response to my poll question:( That person decided "Forever Red" was her favorite. As for me, I liked "Reinforcements from the Future" and "Thunder Storm"."Reinforcements" I liked because it added to that who Jen/Wes dynamic that I love so much. And I don't know why I like "Thunder Storm". Maybe 'cuz it's got a grown-up Tommy in it? Gigletrig is right: Tommy got hotter as he got older!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well?" Andros demanded. "What is it? What's your suggestion?"

"You could lend your 'extra' powers out," High Commander Renier replied.

"Lend them out?" Billy asked, shocked. "To whom?"

"Yeah, you know, it's not like we can just walk up to someone on the street and say, 'Uh, excuse me, but you look like you be in decent shape. Think you might wanna slip this morpher on and be Power-Ranger-for-a-Day?', you know what I'm saying?" Zack pointed out.

"Not only does that go against the principles that _Zordon_ laid out for us when we took up the mantle thirteen years ago," Trini continued. "But we'd also be either locked up for being declared mentally insane, or we'd never have a moment's peace because people would always be bombarding us."

"CALM DOWN, RANGERS," Zordon demanded. "NOBODY HERE IS SUGGESTING THAT YOU ASK ANYONE THAT DOES NOT ALREADY KNOW YOU ARE RANGERS TO TAKE YOUR MANTLES."

"But Zordon," Kim interjected, "with the exception of Ernie, April, the Ninja Turtles, Splinter, and a handful of odd Powers scattered throughout the Universe, everybody that knows who we are is in this room."

"That's correct, Rangers," Princess Shayla nodded. "We are asking that you temporarily hand your morphers over to your parents. They raised you; who better to help you in this battle?"

Tommy, Jason, Trini, Zack, Billy, and Kimberly glanced at each other, nodded, then turned to the other Ninjetti Rangers. "What do you think of this?" Jason asked the others.

"It's logical," Tori responded.

"And it seems like it's also the easiest choice," Ethan added.

"And for the most part, colors would already be chosen for them," Carlos supplied. Cassie nudged him, shaking her head.

"Alright, then," Tommy turned to face the parents. "We would like to invite you all to join us in this mission, but we can't force you. Whatever the outcome, the choice is always yours to stay or to fight."

The parents did the silent conversation thing amongst themselves, then Anton stepped forward. "I think I speak for all of when I say that - whether you need all of us or not - we are all able and willing to help wherever you decide we will be needed."

Ranger offered Kim an almost-imperceptible nod, which she took to mean that they were available to help, if needed, as well.

"RANGERS," Zordon began. "BEFORE YOU CHOOSE WHO WILL WEAR YOUR ADDITIONAL SUITS, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK TOMMY, JASON, ZACHARY, TRINI, WILLIAM, KIMBERLY, ROCKY, AND ALEXANDER TO PLEASE STEP FORWARD."

The seven Rangers did as requested, turning inquiring eyes on the gentle mentor. "YOU EIGHT HAVE SHOWN YOURSELVES TO BE FINE AND CAPABLE RANGERS. JASON, ZACK, TRINI, BILLY, AND KIMBERLY: YOU FIVE WERE HAND-PICKED BY ME MORE THAN THIRTEEN YEARS AGO TO COME TOGETHER AND FORM AN ELITE FIGHTING TEAM TO BATTLE THE EVIL ENTITIES OF RITA AND ZEDD, AND YOU HAVE DONE AN EXEMPLARY JOB. YOUR EXAMPLE HAS UNMISTAKABLY SET THE STANDARD FOR THESE OTHER LADIES AND GENTLEMEN TO FOLLOW, AND I AM HONORED TO BE ABLE TO CALL YOU MY CHOSEN ONES."

"Aw, shucks, Zordon, you're making us blush," Zack ducked jokingly, hiding his head in his shoulder.

"I WOULD ASK YOU TO LEAD YOUR COLORS INTO BATTLE - TO BE THE LEADERS FOR YOUR MISSIONS. KIMBERLY, YOU ARE STRONG, BRAVE, LOYAL, AND NURTURING. THERE IS NO FINER CHOICE TO LEAD THE PINK RANGERS INTO BATTLE."

Kim smiled and nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'll do my best," she replied thickly.

"YOU ALWAYS DO; NEVER FORGET THAT. TRINI, YOU ARE INTELLIGENT, FIERCE, PROUD, AND THOUGHTFUL. YOU WILL DO WELL AS THE LEADER OF THE YELLOW RANGERS."

Trini, also crying, wiped her eyes. "I won't let you down, Zordon," she promised.

"YOU COULD NOT IF YOU TRIED," he smiled. "ZACHARY, YOU ARE FEARLESS, HONEST, LIGHTHEARTED, AND INSTINCTIVE. THE BLACK RANGERS WILL DO WELL UNDER YOUR LEADERSHIP."

"Awesome!" the first Black Ranger exclaimed. "I'll live up to it, Zordon!"

"I KNOW YOU WILL. BILLY, YOU ARE CUNNING, SWIFT, DECISIVE, AND GOOD. YOU WILL MAKE THE BLUE RANGERS AN OUTSTANDING LEADER."

It took Billy a few moments to find his voice. "Thank you, Zordon. I'll see that your trust in me is not misplaced," he finally managed.

"I ALREADY KNOW IT IS NOT. JASON, FOR MORE THAN A YEAR, YOU LED THIS TEAM INTO BATTLE ON AN ALMOST-DAILY BASIS. WHEN TOMMY TOOK UP HIS WHITE MANTLE, YOU WERE AN EQUALLY EXCEPTIONAL SECOND-IN-COMMAND. FOR ME, THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE TO LEAD THE RED RANGERS."

"You won't regret it, Zordon, I promise you that," Jason avowed.

"I KNOW I WILL NOT. TOMMY, YOU CAME TO US SEVERAL MONTHS LATER, UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WE WOULD ALL WISH HAD BEEN VERY DIFFERENT."

Tommy nodded, ducking his head. Kim came up and wrapped her arms around his middle, offering her support. He flung his right arm around her shoulders and lifted his face to the man that had been a second surrogate father to him. "I'm sorry I let you down, Zordon," he said quietly.

"YOU MISUNDERSTAND ME, THOMAS. YOU DID NOT DISAPPOINT ME. YOU WERE UNDER RITA'S SPELL, AND WERE NOT IN CONTROL OF ALL YOUR FACULTIES. IN FACT, I AM AMAZED AT THE RAPIDITY IN WHICH YOU MELDED YOURSELF INTO THIS TEAM ONCE THE SPELL WAS BROKEN. YOU WORKED HARD FOR A YEAR TO PUT RIGHT WHAT YOU HAD DONE, AND WHEN YOUR GREEN POWERS WERE LOST TO YOU, YOU HANDLED YOUR DEPARTURE FROM THE TEAM WITH GRACE, DIGNITY, AND HONOR. YOU WERE MY ONLY CHOICE TO BE THE NEW LEADER OF THE TEAM AS THE WHITE RANGER, AND FOR THREE YEARS YOU PROVED TO YOURSELF, TO YOUR TEAM, AND TO ME THAT YOU WERE BORN TO BE A LEADER.

"WHEN YOUR GRADUATE SCHOOL EXPERIMENT WENT WRONG AND BEGAN ATTACKING THE PEOPLE OF REEFSIDE, YOU DID NOT BACK DOWN. YOU USED YOUR KNOWLEDGE TO CREATE POWERS, TO NURTURE AND TEACH THOSE THREE TEENAGERS AS THEY LEARNED AND GREW AS RANGERS. YOU WILLINGLY TOOK UP THE MANTLE AGAIN WHEN IT PRESENTED ITSELF TO YOU, AND YOU HELPED AND ENCOURAGED TRENT, WHO HAD UNFORTUNATELY HAD THE BAD LUCK OF GAINING EXPERIENCES SO SIMILAR TO YOUR OWN. AND JUST AS YOU WERE THE ONLY CHOICE TO BE THE WHITE RANGER TWELVE YEARS AGO, SO TOO, YOU ARE THE ONLY CHOICE TODAY TO BE THE LEADER OF THE WHITE RANGERS INTO BATTLE."

"I don't know what to say, Zordon," Tommy whispered.

"Dude," Jason said. "You know he's right, Bro. There is _no_ other choice to lead the White team." Kim nodded, squeezing Tommy's middle.

"ROCKY," Zordon continued. "ALTHOUGH YOU ARE NOT ONE OF MY CHOSEN SIX, I HAVE KNOWN YOU NEARLY AS LONG AS THE OTHERS. YOU HAVE SHOWN YOURSELF TO BE CAPABLE ON THE BATTLEFIELD AND PROTECTIVE OF THOSE UNDER YOUR COMMAND. I AM ASKING YOU TO FORGO YOUR RED NINJETTI AND YOUR BLUE ZEO POWERS AND SERVE AS THE LEADER OF THE GREEN RANGERS, USING TOMMY'S DRAGONZORD POWER COIN."

"I would be honored, Zordon," Rocky replied. "But I'm gonna have to decline." At everyone's shocked gasps, he explained. "Remember that martial arts injury I got, the one that kept me from joining the Turbo team?" he asked.

When everyone nodded, he continued. "Well, the recent battles we've been having have started aggravating it, and I've had to use my back brace, see?" he pulled the edges of his red t-shirt up enough for everyone to see the black brace underneath. "I'm sorry, Zordon, but I just don't think I'd be an effective leader with an injury like this. I'd like to nominate Adam for the job, and I would be proud to keep my Ninjetti power and serve under Jason," he offered.

"Glad to have you on the team, man," Jason responded, slapping hands with Rocky.

"TOMMY, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?" the mentor asked the Power Ranger leader.

Tommy considered the point for a moment, then nodded. "Adam's a good choice. He's quiet, but strong and smart, like Billy. He'll be a great leader for the Green Rangers."

"I AGREE. ADAM, IT WAS A DIFFICULT DECISION CHOOSING BETWEEN YOU AND ROCKY. INDEED, THE ONLY FACTOR THAT SWUNG THE DECISION IN ROCKY'S FAVOR WAS THE FACT THAT HE WAS A RED RANGER."

"I understand, Zordon. If I have to be second choice, I'm glad it's not because you think I'm less capable," Adam replied, coming forward and accepting the Green Dragon Power Coin out of Tommy's outstretched hand.

"ON THE CONTRARY, YOU HAVE SHOWN YOURSELF BRAVE AND UNSELFISH WHEN YOU MORPHED WITHOUT POWERS TO SAVE THE LIFE OF CARLOS DURING THE SPACE RANGERS' REIGN. TOMMY IS CORRECT: YOU HAVE MANY FINE LEADERSHIP QUALITIES."

"You can count on me, Zordon," Adam assured the mentor.

"I KNOW I CAN. ALEXANDER, YOU AND I DO NOT KNOW EACH OTHER VERY WELL, HAVING SPENT ONLY ONE WEEK TOGETHER DURING TOMMY'S RANGER REUNION IN AUGUST. HOWEVER, JENNIFER HAS SPOKEN VERY HIGHLY OF YOUR LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES IN THE FUTURE, AND CAPTAIN LOGAN HAS TOLD ME OF YOUR YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE TIME FORCE SQUAD, EVEN SACRIFICING YOUR OWN LIFE IN PURSUIT OF A CRIMINAL. AS YOU ARE AWARE, THERE ARE SEVERAL OF THE RANGERS, SUCH AS JASON AND ZHANE, THAT HAVE COLORS THAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS METALLIC. I WOULD LIKE THESE RANGERS TO FORM A TEAM, AND FOR YOU TO LEAD THEM INTO BATTLE."

Alex, dumbstruck, turned to Captain Logan. "Sir?" he asked.

"Zordon contacted me a couple days ago, just after he asked Kimberly to work on bringing back the powers, and asked me what kind of a leader you were, so I gave you my recommendation. You deserve it, Alex. Congratulations."

"But, Zordon, Kimberly and I have Dino Thunder powers, too," Tommy pointed out. "Those are bonded to us, and can only be removed by death or by losing the powers."

"Hmm...I don't think I like those options, Sis," Zack joked. Kim cuffed him good-naturedly on the shoulder.

"Well, maybe not," Jen came forward. "Maybe there's a way Kim and Tommy can transfer their powers to someone else without dying or losing the power."

"How?" Kira asked, with Conner, Ethan, and Trent surrounding her, nodding their heads.

"By giving it to someone with similar DNA," Wes supplied, holding up his wrist with his Chrono Morpher on it.

"Exactly!" Jen answered, nodding emphatically. "When Lucas, Trip, Katie, and I went chasing after Ransik into Silver Hills, we thought Alex was dead, but we had his Red Chrono Morpher, which was locked. We couldn't use our morphers without the red one being unlocked, so we handed it over to Wes, who is, of course, an ancestor of Alex's."

"So are you," Kim pointed out. "You couldn't unlock his morpher yourself?"

"Well, no, because I didn't know at the time that I was Alex's ancestor, and I had my own Chrono Morpher, anyhow."

Kim looked at Tommy. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I think it's worth it for you to try to hand your morpher to your mother, but I'm adopted, remember?" Tommy replied sadly.

"You don't have anyone with similar DNA?" Eric asked.

"He has a brother," Billy suggested.

"That might work," Jen surmised. "You would, of course, only have a quarter the same DNA instead of half, but it might be enough of a bond for you."

"He's a half-brother," Tommy reminded the Blue Ranger. "The DNA similarities aren't great enough; there's only an eighth that's the same."

"Tommy, I'm gonna check something in just a sec," Kim promised, picking up her Dino Thunder morpher and heading to her parents. She noticed the gem flashing as she approached them and, handing the morpher over to her mother, saw the pink power flowing through the older woman. Once assured that her mother was set up with her power, Kim ran back over to the console, grabbed her computer, and began typing away on it.

"Honey, have you ever had a blood transfusion?" she finally asked after several moments.

"You know I have, Beautiful. When I was eleven I was in a karate tournament and hit my head. I needed to have a blood transfusion to replace the blood loss, and to stay in the hospital for a few days," he replied.

"Mm-hm. And who donated that blood to you?" she continued.

"Well, my...dad...did," he responded, understanding dawning in his eyes. "Do you really think that's enough of a bond?" he asked.

"Only one way to find out, Handsome," she grinned.

He nodded and picked up his morpher, heading over to his dad. When he placed the gauntlet into his father's hand, nothing happened for a few moments, but then the Black power began flowing through Drew's arm, and Tommy knew that Kimberly's assessment had been correct. He gave his father a quick hug before running back to where Kim was and placing a kiss on the top of her head. She smiled up at him before turning back to her computer.

Trini picked up her Lavender Panther Coin and headed towards her mother, smiling as she handed it over. Billy, in turn, gave his father the Blue Ninjetti Coin and Kimberly handed her Crane Coin to Jason's mother, Julia. Zack gave his Navy Ninjetti Coin to Ju Kwan, and Tommy entrusted his Falcon Coin - to everyone's great surprise - to his mother. His Red Zeo Crystal, however, he picked up, thought about, turned around, and handed over to Dan Scott.

The older man, surprised and honored, shook Tommy's hand. "I won't let you down, son," he promised.

"I'm sure you won't," Tommy replied.

Jason regarded his Gold Lion Coin thoughtfully before turning his gaze on the group of parents. Both of his parents had already been entrusted with powers, as had both of Tommy's, Billy and Kimberly's, and Trini's. That left only one person he knew well enough to entrust with the well-being of his Power Coin. He grinned as he placed it in the hands of a surprised Lilith Taylor.

"Welcome aboard, Mom," he whispered, reverting to his old childhood nickname for her. Growing up, he, Zack, Billy, Kimberly, and Trini had been so close that, when they began calling each other "brother" and "sister", they began calling each other's parent's "Mom" and "Dad", as well.

"Thanks, son," she grinned through her tears.

Rocky flipped his Blue Zeo Crystal in his hand for a moment, before handing it off to his father. Cassie, having thought long and hard about it, handed her Pink Turbo Morpher back to Kat.

"I'm more comfortable being the Pink Space Ranger," she explained. "Besides, the Pink Turbo Morpher was yours first."

TJ, Carlos, and Ashley did likewise. "The Astro Morphers are ours, but the Turbo Morphers really belong to you all," TJ told Tommy as he relinquished the morpher to his predecessor. Tommy nodded his understanding, before glancing down at the morpher in his hand and passing it to Aisha's father, Randy.

Adam placed the four morphers in his hands down on the console before him. The Dragonzord Power Coin he slipped into his back pocket, for the time being, but he quietly studied the other three. Finally, after a couple of minutes, he picked up his Black Frog Coin and handed it to his father. His Turbo Morpher went to his mother, and his Zeo Crystal went to Zaigra DeSantos. Tanya placed her Yellow Turbo Morpher aside, handed her Orange Power Coin to her mother, and her Zeo Crystal to Danika Campbell.

Kat flipped through the three morphers in her hands before finally slipping the Pink Turbo Morpher into her pocket. Her Giraffe Coin she handed to her mother, and the Zeo Crystal she turned around and offered to Kendrix.

"You began as a Pink Ranger," Kat stated. "It's only right you go into battle with us as a Pink Ranger." Kendrix smiled, nodded, and hugged Kat before taking her Cheetah Power Coin out of her pocket and handing it over to Mary Winslow.

Justin handed his Ninjetti Morpher to his father, wanting to stay with the rest of his Turbo team. Andros handed his Buffalo Power Coin to Samuel Enrile, Alyssa's father. TJ handed his Beige Coin to Joanna Grayson, Cassie handed off her Goose Power Coin to Elizabeth Earhardt - Taylor's mother. As Ashley passed her Ninjetti power to her mother, Melinda, Carlos decided that Josh Hammond was to be trusted with his Maroon Seal, and Zhane handed his Silver Ninjetti power to Evan Rocca.

Cole, the only member of the Wild Force team to have an extra power to pass on, gave his Ninjetti Morpher to Carl Cooper, Max's father. Shane passed his Bronze Eagle to Carter Grayson, Sr., as Tori entrusted her Aqua Dolphin to Vanessa Enrile and Dustin gave over his Crimson Panda to Mike Winslow. Hunter flipped his Jaguar Coin before placing it into the hands of Shawn Earhardt. Blake and Cam glanced at each other before entrusting their Ninjetti powers to Victor Rawlings and Patrick Ford, respectively.

Conner slipped his gauntlet on his wrist before handing his Gorilla Power Coin to his father. Kira, Ethan, and Trent, likewise, kept their Dino Thunder powers and lent their Ninjetti powers to others. Kira's Golden Canary was entrusted to her mother, Ethan's Gray Elephant was passed to his father, and Trent's Tan Malamute was given to his adopted father, Anton Mercer.

"I don't know if I should take this, Trent," Anton began. "Mesogog and Elsa are out there, even though your mother and I are here. I just wouldn't feel right about joining you in the fight when I feel responsible for their even having been created in the first place."

"Dad, come on," Trent pleaded. "If anyone knows anything about having to make up for wrongs done in the past, it's me. And Dr. O, for that matter. He was the evil Green Ranger, before Jason broke the spell. And you don't think he's unworthy of holding a power, do you?"

"Tommy? Absolutely not. All of his friends here keep calling him the 'Greatest Ranger Ever'," Anton avowed.

"There's a reason we call him that, Anton," Kim pointed out. "Tommy used that experience as an evil Ranger to become a truly great one. He can relate to you, Trent, Elsa, Karone, Ryan, Marah, Kapri, Ransik, and Nadira in a way that none of the rest of us will ever be able to, because he's done the damage and had to live with the guilt and the knowledge that he destroyed lives, and push past it, and work to make it right. This is _your_ chance to do that same thing."

"You know," Anton remarked thoughtfully, accepting the morpher from his son, "I knew there was a reason I chose you to be the only Paleobotany student on that dig so many years ago."

Kim blushed, giggling.

"By the way," he continued. "Whatever happened to that guy you were seeing? You know, that Andrew What's-his-name?"

Kimberly glared at Anton as Elsa elbowed him in the side, gesturing to Tommy, who turned to Kim. "Who?" he asked.

"Nobody important," Kim remarked offhandedly, shooting daggers with her eyes one more time at Anton, who cringed and mouthed an apology.

"No, no," Tommy insisted, taking her arm. "There's no 'nobody' now. Andrew who? And who is he to you?"

"Fine, I'll tell you, but you need to let go of my arm because you're seriously hurting me," Kim sighed, pulling her arm free and taking a few steps back. "His name is Andrew Hartford. He's an adventurer-slash-playboy that I met in Atlanta at the 1996 Olympic Games."

"Must be someone pretty important to you, if you were still close enough for him to have joined you on that dig in 2002," Tommy bit out bitterly.

"Don't even go there, Thomas Everett," Kimberly threatened menacingly. "It was 1996, I had just won the gold in three events in the Pan Global Games a few months before, and had only had about three months to perfect _eight_ Olympic-caliber routines in time for the Olympics. My longtime boyfriend," gesturing to him, "had written me a 'Dear Jane' letter a mere six months before, saying he had found someone else and didn't want me anymore." Here, her voice broke.

"Jason, Trini, Billy, and Zack had come to visit me over Christmas to cheer me up over the letter, but Jason, Trini, and Zack had to get back to the Peace Conference, and Billy was on his way to Aquitar. Aisha was in Africa by then, and my mother was in France, and I felt like Zordon wouldn't have wanted to see me after I left the team. I had _nobody_ to encourage me and hold me and tell me that I'd do fine. Everyone I had ever loved had gone away, and I was all alone at the biggest athletic competition in the world. Actually, that's not true. My dad was there," she smiled through her tears at her father, "but I didn't realize at the time that he was my dad, so he could only visit me once or twice in the Village."

She sniffed and Billy wordlessly handed her a tissue so she could continue. "Then, I guess it was my second day there, because I had just finished unpacking, I was at a teahouse down the street from the Olympic Village, and I met this handsome, charming, exciting man, who couldn't find another chair to sit in, so he shared my table. We started talking, and I found my troubles just pouring out. And he _listened_ to me, Tommy! He didn't judge me, he never told me to keep my problems to myself, he just listened. And when my story was finished, he dried my tears, paid for our teas, and asked if I'd like to have dinner with him."

"I don't need to hear this," Tommy began, moving to cover his ears. It was John Cranston, however, who kept him from doing it.

"You _do_ need to hear this, Tommy," he instructed, removing his hands away from the younger man's arms, "because you didn't see her that first day, and you didn't see the dramatic change in her a mere three days later, but I did. And I was _amazed_. Go on, Honey," he gestured to Kim to finish her story.

"Anyway," Kim nodded her thanks to her father, "over dinner, he told me the most amusing stories of some of his adventures. He's a bit older than me, maybe ten years, so there were a few stories at that point. He showed up at my practice every day, encouraging me, helping me, watching me. By the end of those two weeks, we were nearly inseparable. But, he knew I was still in love with you, despite the letter I thought I had received from you. And I knew that he had neither the time nor the inclination for a wife, so we agreed it would be better if we kept ourselves merely 'bed buddies'. You know, friends with benefits, whenever we happened to be passing by where the other one was. When I headed to Anton's island, he met me there and stayed a week, but then he was off to Kilimanjaro, Everest, and McKinley on climbing expeditions. We've called each other and emailed, though, to keep updated with each other's lives, for the past ten years."

"When was the last time you spoke to him?" Tommy asked after a few moments of silence. "I need to know, Kim, please?"

"I called him in July to let him know he and I would always be friends, but that it had to end between us because you were back in my life," she replied honestly, watching him steadily. "He understood."

Tommy nodded. "OK. Just so you know, I'm probably never gonna like or accept the guy," he warned.

"You're going to have to," Kim answered. "Because I'm not giving up his friendship; not even for you. How selfish would that be? The man got me through the hardest time of my life."

Jason, Trini, Zack, and Billy moved together, then approached their friends. "Kim, we're sorry," Jason stated simply.

She turned to him, confused. "Whatever for?" she asked.

"We're your best friends in the world," Trini replied, "and we weren't there for you."

"Yeah, Sis, we were too busy off doing our own things to really be your support system when you needed us most," Zack added.

"We failed you, Kimberly," Billy finished. "We're your teammates, your best friends, the people you have always been able to count on, and we let you down during the most important competition of your life."

"You guys didn't let me down," she declared, shaking her head. "Jason, Trini Zack, you guys had commitments in Switzerland. Other people needed you, and I understood that. And Billy, you were sick! You'd have died if you hadn't have gone to Aquitar, and that was something I wouldn't have been able to live with. Besides, you guys had come to see me at Christmas, remember? So it wasn't like we hadn't seen each other in years. But you," she turned to Tommy. "You will never know how much I wanted - no, _needed_ - you there with me. And what's worse, you didn't even care enough to ask. And now you're yelling at me about a guy that actually _did_ care enough about me to be there for me? If that's not the pot calling the kettle black, Thomas Oliver, I don't know what is. Have I ever _once_ asked you about the women you'd been with before me?" she demanded before stomping past him and storming out the door.

A few minutes later, she was sitting on her favorite cliff outside the Command Center when she heard the ground crunching behind her. Jen came up and sat down beside her. "It's hard, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

"What's hard?" Kim asked her Time Force counterpart.

"It's hard, loving a guy you think is perfect. Then, when you think you're separated from him for good, you meet and fall in love with a guy that has all the qualities you thought your first love had," Jen replied thoughtfully.

Kim smiled wryly. "I've never loved Andrew, Jen; it's always been Tommy. And Andy knew that and respected that. And neither one of them is perfect, but I will always love Tommy, and Andrew will always be a friend, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Jen?" Tommy's soft voice came from behind them. "Do you mind if I speak to my fiancée in private for a moment?"

Jen glanced at Kim, who nodded and nudged her shoulder. The Pink Time Force Ranger grinned, patted Kimberly on the knee, and stood up, heading back towards the Command Center. She stopped in front of Tommy on the way, though. "With the exception of Katie," she began in a low voice, "Kimberly is the closest thing I have to a sister here. Especially since my own sister is a thousand years in the future. Hurt her, and I'll kick your ass, understand?"

"Understood," he replied, saluting. Jen laughed and swatted him before heading inside.

"You're right," he admitted once they were alone. "You've never asked about the women before you. And I have no right to be upset about this Andrew Hartford, because there _were_ women in my bed other than you."

He took Jen's place next to her. "But you were wrong when you said I didn't care, Kimberly. Beautiful, I have loved you since the day we met, thirteen years ago. I've never stopped; not for one day. I didn't go visit you at the Olympics, not because I didn't care, but because I was sure you didn't want me there. You're forgetting that Zedd and Rita sent me the same letter they sent to you; for all I knew, you _had_ found someone else in Florida. Maybe I should have called and asked about the letter, but I'll remind you that you never did, either."

"For the same reasons," she mumbled. Then, sitting up abruptly and turning towards him. "Tommy, it's only ever been you, you know that, right? That thing with Andrew was just-"

"I don't care, Kimberly," he interrupted. "_I'm_ the one that gets to fall asleep with you every night. _I'm _the one that gets to reach for you when we're feeling amorous, and _I'm_ the one that gets to wake up beside you every morning. That's all I care about." Kim, tears rolling down her face yet again, leaned over and raised her head for a kiss, which Tommy happily complied with. Eventually, however, she reluctantly pulled away and stood up.

"We should go back in; Jen'll start to wonder if I pushed you off the cliff," she giggled.

"Yeah, right, like I'd let you," he shot back good-naturedly, standing up and taking her hand.

"Whatever, Mr. Greatest Ranger Ever, we both know I can totally take you," she retorted as they re-entered the Command Center.

"Really? My place or yours?" he asked with a leer, eliciting groans from four people.

"Oh my God, Dr. O! Too much information!" Kira shouted, covering her ears. A quick glance showed Tommy that Trent, Ethan, and Conner were in similar conditions.

"Well honestly, you guys, Kimberly _is_ pregnant; you didn't think she got that way on her own, did you?" Tommy sighed dramatically.

"Yeah, well, we don't need to know the details, OK?" Ethan fired back.

Kimberly took the time to notice that a visitor had entered the Command Center while she and Tommy had been talking outside. "Dulcea?" she asked, incredulous. "What are you doing here?"

"I am here to help, Kimberly," the Master Warrior replied.

"THAT IS CORRECT, PINK RANGER. WE WILL ALSO BE RECEIVING HELP FROM THE SHADOW RANGER, THE MASKED RIDER, TREY OF TRIFORIA, AND THE ALIEN RANGERS OF AQUITAR," Zordon added.

"Also," Udonna stepped forward. "Several of the parents of Mystic Force have powers, as well, although they have never had morphers, until now." She produced a box and opened it, revealing four wands inside. Sheila Bly, Elisa Thorn, Louise Rocca, and Charles Thorn stepped forward, each taking one of the wands.

Nick, Madison, Xander, Vida, and Chip looked at their mentor and their parents disbelievingly. "What?" Udonna asked, finally noticing their stares. "You all have magical powers; certainly you knew you had to have inherited them from _someone_," she explained.

"What...uh...kinds, or...I mean, uh...colors...are they?" Nick finally asked, the only one on his team able to find his voice.

"Sheila is the Gold Ranger," Udonna began. "She has the power of the Sun. Elisa is the Silver Ranger, with the power of Thunder at her command. Charles is the Black Ranger, with the ability to reverse a dark spell. Louise is different, however. She is the Wood Nymph, with the ability to control the minerals of the earth."

"I should take this chance to say that we will, also, be having visitors come to help," Commander Cruger added.

"As will we," finished Sensei.

"What? Who?" Jack, Sky, Bridge, Z, Syd, Shane, Dustin, Tori, Hunter, Blake, and Cam all asked simultaneously.

"Well, Dr. Manx will be arriving tomorrow morning, along with Omega and Nova," Cruger explained. "And I, as well, will be donning the Shadow Ranger mantle. Also, we have five people on their way here now from the current Space Patrol Delta base. They should be here shortly."

"And I would like to introduce to you all the newest members of the Ninja Storm team, the Pink and Orange Lightning Rangers," Sensei announced, gesturing to the door, where two new Rangers stood, in full uniform.

"Who are they, Dad?" Cam asked, heading towards the newcomers, who moved to take off their helmets.

"Hiya, Cousin!" came the ditzy cheerful voice of Kapri from the Pink Ranger. One quick glance confirmed that the Orange Ranger was, indeed, Marah.

"Uh, Sensei, are you sure they're ready?" Tori asked, gesturing to the sisters.

"I have as much confidence in them as I did in you, Dustin, and Shane when I gave you your Wind Morphers, Tori," Sensei replied.

Tori was about to reply, but heard the sound of a vehicle outside. "That will be our additional teammates," Cruger indicated, heading out the door. He was back in a moment with five rangers, in A-Squad uniforms. The only difference was that, instead of a Green Ranger, there was a Black one.

"A-Squad, reveal yourselves!" Cruger commanded. Slowly, the newcomers did as they were told, causing the B-Squad Rangers to gasp.

"I'm Austin Tate, SPD Red," the Red Ranger announced.

"Matthew Landors, SPD Blue."

"Trace Carson, SPD Black."

"Julia Alcantara, SPD Yellow."

"Belle Baylor, SPD Pink."

"These are the five people that helped create the SPD program, and our original A-Squad," Cruger explained. "As you've probably also noticed, they are your parents, Cadets. Cadet Carson, you will notice that your father is the Black Ranger, and that there is no Green Ranger on this team." At Bridge's nod, he continued. "We originally did not have the Green Ranger. The Black Delta Morpher was switched to a Green one about 5 years into the program to make the number on the uniform easily identifiable."

"RANGERS," Zordon announced, bringing all attention to him. "WE HAVE A BUSY DAY AHEAD OF US, AND IT IS NOW QUITE LATE IN THE EVENING. I SUGGEST YOU ALL GET A GOOD NIGHT'S REST; MEET BACK HERE AT EIGHT O'CLOCK TOMORROW MORNING."

At Zordon's announcement, the Rangers all began scattering off. The visitors were taken by Adam to be settled in rooms for the night, and Stephanie and her friends were being herded into the elevator by Jen and Wes. Steph turned to find her cousins, and noticed Tommy pulling Kimberly to his side and teleporting off with her, and Billy doing the same thing with Trini.

"Where are they off to?" Stephanie wondered.

Wes chuckled. "My best guess?" he asked. "It's been two nights since Tommy proposed to Kim. The first night they were camped out in the living room with sixty other people, and last night she was at your place. Same thing with Billy and Trini," he explained.

Steph's eyes got wide. "Oh," she finally managed, red in the face. Lester laughed outright, Bobby too, causing Tank and Ranger to shove them into the wall.

Jen and Wes just smiled secretly at each other and kept their mouths shut.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Yay! Another chapter finished! And it's a long one, too, wow!

**Poll Question:** **What is your favorite PR couple? Any particular reason?**


	16. Missions

Gigletrig: Yeah, a family-owned business. Especially given the new team that's coming up (grins).

Kels Tolar: I'm so happy to see (well, read, I guess) you again! I'm sorry I let everyone down, but I'm here now. I really have to work on my organizational skills when September rolls back around and school starts up again. Anyhow, glad you're still reading!

Olmedo: I'll try and make it a little easier to follow with the parents. I'd post a list, but that would be really long and I doubt anyone wants to read through it. I'm glad you're liking both stories so much, and I always love reading your reviews because they're so excited-sounding. Keep reading!

GinaStar: Glad you liked my idea about the Dino Gems. It just occurred to me that, since the Chrono Morphers and the Dino Gems both have genetic bonds to the holders, they must have the same way to transfer the power to others. And yay, next chappie is here now!

A/N: OK, well, all four of the people who answered my poll question like Tommy/Kim pairings. Two of them also like Billy/Trini. I know of one person - who didn't answer the poll question yet, but I know she likes this pairing - whose favorite (or one of them) is Xander/Vida. In fact, she's the reason I paired those two together in this story. My personal favorites are Tommy/Kim, Billy/Trini, and Wes/Jen. And I know that the different parents are hard to place with their children. Like I told Olmedo, I would post a list, but that would take forever.

Here are a few hints, though: all of the Morphin' team's parents are now Rangers, as are the Zeo parents and Justin from Turbo. The other Turbo members, as well as the Space team don't have parents in this story yet, and neither does Lost Galaxy. All of Wild Force's parents are there, except for Danny, Merrick, and Cole, who are orphaned. Time Force's parents are in the future, except Wes' dad, who is there with them, and Eric is also orphaned. So is all of Ninja Storm, except for Cam, whose dad is Sensei, of course. All of Dino Thunder's parents are there, as well (Trent had been adopted by Anton, who had married Elsa after they were both turned back to normal at the end of the season), and Mystic Force's parents are there, too, including Nick's adopted parents, the Russells. As for SPD, their parents are the new A-Squad from the present time I just introduced. The guys you can probably guess, since their last names are the same, but Julia Alcantara is Z's mother - and Danny's sister-in-law - and Belle Baylor is Syd's mother.

Warning: This chapter is NC-17! The story was rated "M" for a reason, folks. For those of you that are too young, skip down to the second part, please. All the rest, enjoy!

By the way, I'm kinda surprised nobody noticed the significance of the name of Kimberly's ex.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

When Tommy and Kimberly rematerialized, Kim was surprised to find that they weren't back at the hospital bungalow, but were in fact inside Tommy's house.

"I wanted us to be alone," he murmured. "Cole and Maya went back to the Collins mansion in Baltimore; Jen and Wes will be heading back to the one in Silver Hills later, after everyone gets settled in at the Command Center; Jason and Dana are using the bungalow; and I imagine that Billy and Trini are back at Billy's house in Houston right about now. We haven't had any time alone recently to really celebrate our engagement, and-"

"Tommy," she whispered softly. "Shut up and kiss me." He did as she requested, leaning into her to deepen the kiss before breaking it off abruptly. At her disappointed gaze, he grinned wickedly, bending down to reach his arm beneath her knees, and lifting. Now being carried bridal-style, Kimberly giggled softly and pulled Tommy's face back down to hers, while he navigated his way through his living room to the stairs.

Once in his bedroom, Tommy kicked the door closed behind him and placed Kim gently on the bed. Reverently, he began peeling off her blazer and tugging the hem of her blouse out of her jeans. While Tommy was frantically working to get her blouse unbuttoned, Kim pulled his mouth down to hers once more before sliding her hands down to his jeans, tugging at the button. Finally it popped open, Kim pulled the zipper down and shoved the garment down his legs, along with his boxers.

Once Tommy's lower half was clothing-free, she took him in her hands and stroked, causing him to moan into her mouth and finally tear the blouse off her body, frustrated with all the little buttons on it. Her bra was the next piece of clothing to go, and as soon as there were no more obstacles in his way, Tommy finally tore his mouth away from hers and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth while pinching the other one.

Kim, working on getting his t-shirt off of him with one hand while the other had been otherwise occupied lower down, threw her head back and groaned his name, tightening her hold around him. Shakily, he pried her hands away.

"Better not keep doing that; I may not last," he warned. He took advantage of their moment apart to pull his t-shirt over his head and fling it across the room before tackling the fly on _her _jeans. Once she was completely naked, he bent his head and took a long lick through her folds, causing her to buck her hips against his mouth.

"Oh, shit," she groaned, fisting her hands in the sheets above her head and arching her back.

Tommy took that as a sign to continue and began alternately nibbling, licking, and sucking on her clit. He could feel the tension building inside her, like a spring, tightly coiled, ready to explode.

Kimberly, unable to take much more, began whimpering as she moved one hand down to pull on Tommy's shoulder. Just then, he inserted two fingers inside her and began pumping while he sucked. She pulled harder on his shoulder, pleading with him.

"Oh, God, Tommy! Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, Tommy! I need you, oh shit! Tommy, I need you inside me now, oh please, Tommy, more!"

Tommy, not willing to stop his ministrations, still smiled smugly to himself. _I bet that Andrew Hartford never made her beg for more,_ he thought proudly, applying his mouth and fingers with renewed vigor.

Kimberly had by this point stopped pulling on his shoulder and was, in fact, twisting her hands in his hair, holding his mouth against her as she undulated beneath him. Tommy crooked one of his fingers inside her, which set off that eruption he knew had been bubbling just beneath her surface. Her hips shot off the bed, her legs wrapped over his shoulders and down his back, and her hand pressed harder on the back of his head while her inner muscles clenched around his fingers.

"Oh God, Tommy, YES!" she screamed, her breathing ragged. She hardly had time to come down from her high, however, before she felt him move up her body and bury himself to the hilt, slamming into her one, two, three times before he felt his own eruption taking place.

"Sorry I was so rough," he finally mumbled against her shoulder, their lower halves still joined intimately. "Did I hurt you?"

"Mmmm...nope," she smiled sleepily, kissing him. "I think we both needed that; it's been a long week."

"Night's not over yet, Beautiful," he leered, thrusting softly against her. He could feel himself rehardening already.

"Again?" she laughed. "How can you be ready again so soon, Tommy? Oh, God," she trailed off as he rubbed against a particularly sensitive place inside her.

"It's you," he accused seductively, nuzzling her neck. "You've turned me insatiable; I can't get enough of you."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

December 19, 2006

_Beep Beep Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep._

Tommy groaned as he rolled over, pulling his arm from underneath Kimberly to slap at his alarm clock.

_Beep Beep Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep._

"Forget it, Tommy," Kim mumbled sleepily from his shoulder. "It's not your alarm clock; it's my cell phone." She reached for the offending device and switched it off before rolling out of bed, groaning, and reaching for Tommy's bathrobe.

"Kimberly, it is," he glanced at his clock, "4:30 in the morning. We don't need to be at the Command Center until eight, and we didn't get to sleep until one. What are you getting up so early for?"

"I always get up early, Tommy," she replied, rooting around his closet for a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt she could borrow for her run and workout. "Goes back to the Pan Globals days, I guess...late nights and early mornings. And having been a competitor in the last three Summer Olympics, it's just second nature, I guess, to get up early for a run. Besides, it's 7:30 in Baltimore. Wanna join me?" she offered, grinning.

"Did Andrew ever join you?" he rejoined.

"Don't be ridiculous, Tommy," she scoffed, slipping into her borrowed clothes and putting her hair into a messy ponytail before toeing into the tennis shoes she'd been wearing the day before. "Andrew and I didn't run together in the mornings."

"Then I have nothing to prove. Have fun," he flung back at her, dropping his head back into the pillow.

"We were usually otherwise engaged until I had to leave for practice, so we went running after lunch," she finished good-naturedly, jogging out the door and down the stairs before he had a chance to call her back.

An hour later, she was running back into the house. After heading into the kitchen for a bottle of water, she jogged back up the stairs, stripped out of her now-sweaty clothes, and stepped into the shower, amazed that she could still here Tommy snoring in the bedroom.

Once showered, she slipped back into Tommy's bathrobe and went rooting around his closet one more time. _I know I left an outfit here in September,_ she thought distractedly. _Aha, there it is!_ She reached into the back of the closet and came back clutching the pink silk wraparound blouse and the pink-and-white flowered button-up skirt. Before slipping the skirt around her waist, she buttoned up the top half of the buttons so she wouldn't have to bend over to finish dressing. Once that was done, she stepped into the garment and pulled it up, undoing the top three buttons to get it over her hips.

She hit a problem, however, while trying to _redo_ the buttons. The top two wouldn't fasten without her taking a deep breath in, then when she released her breath, she still couldn't breath, so she decided to leave the top two buttons undone. Quickly, she pulled her arms through the sleeves of her blouse and wrapped the tails around the back and twisted it to meet at the side. There was a problem here, too, however. The tails barely met where they used to, so she had to tie the blouse in the back, which took a little doing for her.

_What is going on with my clothes today?_ she wondered. _This outfit fit me perfectly in September, and now it's too small._ One idea flitted through her mind as to the reason her clothes didn't fit her anymore. _It's not possible,_ she told herself, glancing around for a bathroom scale. Finding one, she took a deep breath and stepped on. _I weighed 95 pounds at my 12-week check-up two weeks ago._ She looked down and screamed with joy. 108 pounds! She had gained 13 pounds in two weeks!

Tommy heard her screaming and ran into the bathroom, sheet wrapped around his waist. "Beautiful?" he asked frantically. "What is it? What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing," she managed to squeak out through her tears. "It's just that Trini, Jen, Dana, and I will need to go shopping when this whole thing is over." She gestured for him to look at the scale, grinning when he noticed the number.

"It's all that food you keep stuffing into my stomach," she mock-complained as he hauled her into his arms, holding her tightly against him.

"Our little miracle is finally making its presence known," he corrected, cradling her stomach with one hand. "When's your next appointment?"

"Today, actually," she replied, glancing at her watch. "I should call the doctor's office and confirm the appointment. It's at six, then I have an appointment with Dr. Rocca at seven."

"So late?" he queried.

"They both have rounds in the hospital tonight, so I agreed to see them this evening rather than this morning," she explained.

"I see. What time is it now?" He looked around, trying to see his clock.

"It's six, Tommy. Time for you to get your cute little behind into the shower," Kim laughed. "I'm gonna call and confirm my appointments, then I'm gonna head to the Command Center and see if there's anything Zordon needs done before our missions. See you there."

"OK, Beautiful," he agreed. "Be careful. I love you."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Zordon didn't have anything in the Command Center for her to do, but said that Jen, Trini, and Maya had already teleported back with the same question and were now, he believed, in the kitchen fixing breakfast, so she headed down to see if she could help.

Sure enough, there was plenty of work to be done, so she grabbed herself a cup of coffee and a knife and began slicing bagels.

"You look chipper for it being so early in the morning, Kimberly," Jen noted, taking in her counterpart's glowing smile. "Was your night with Tommy _really_ that good?"

Kim laughed delightedly, Trini looked amused, and Maya blushed. "It was _better_ than that good, but that's not what's got me smiling. My skirt's too tight," she bubbled, humming to herself.

It was Trini's turn to laugh as she hugged her friend. "Oh, I'm so glad! Billy and I were so worried about you and the baby when you started losing weight."

"Baby and I are doing just fine, thank you for your concern, Aunt Trini."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

An hour and a half later, everyone was gathered back into the Command Center, including the Alien Rangers, and the Omega and Nova Rangers from the SPD future. Each color was grouped together, waiting for their assignments from their leaders.

"RANGERS, IN THE VIEWING GLOBE YOU WILL SEE FLURIOUS AND MOLTOR, EVIL BROTHERS THAT HAVE RECENTLY BEEN ACCIDENTALLY RELEASED FROM THEIR IMPRISONMENT. THEY ARE AFTER THE CORONA AURORA, AS WELL AS THE JEWELS THAT BELONG TO THE CROWN. THESE JEWELS POSSESS GREAT POWER; THERE IS NO TELLING WHAT DAMAGE MAY BE DONE IF THEY FALL INTO THE WRONG HANDS." The Rangers all nodded their heads, waiting for Zordon to continue.

"ALSO LOOKING FOR THE CROWN AND ITS JEWELS ARE THRAX - THE SON OF ZEDD AND RITA - AND ZELTRAX, ONE OF THE RIGHT-HAND HENCHMEN FROM MESOGOG'S REGIME. PINK RANGERS, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO GO DOWN TO SAN ANGELES - THE LOCATION THE CROWN IS BELIEVED TO BE - AND TO RETRIEVE IT BEFORE MOLTOR, FLURIOUS, THRAX, OR ZELTRAX FIND IT."

"You can count on us, Zordon," Kimberly promised. "One hundred percent."

"GO THEN, MY RANGERS, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU."

"Be careful, Kimberly," Tommy instructed. "Zeltrax has it in for me...if he finds out how important you are to me..." he didn't need to finish the thought.

"Dana and I will watch out for her, Tommy," Jen promised. Tommy nodded his head.

The Pink Rangers teleported out of the Command Center, and Zordon turned his attention to Billy's group. "BLUE RANGERS," he began, "THIS IS LOTHOR. I AM SURE HE IS FAMILIAR TO AT LEAST THREE OF YOU, BUT FOR THOSE THAT ARE NOT ACQUAINTED WITH HIM, I WILL INFORM YOU THAT HE IS SENSEI WATANABE'S TWIN BROTHER, AND CAM, MARAH, AND KAPRI'S UNCLE. HE IS VERY EVIL AND VERY POWERFUL. WITH HIM ARE EMPEROR GRUUMM, WHO HAS TRAVELED FROM HIS ISLAND; GLUTO; AND IMPERIOUS. SENSORS INDICATE THEY ARE HEADED TOWARDS THE WIND NINJA ACADEMY. GO NOW, BEFORE THEY DESTROY IT AGAIN, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU, BLUE RANGERS.

"We're on it, Zordon," Billy announced, turning to his team. "Ready, guys?"

"Ready!" the Blue Rangers replied in unison.

"Let's do it. It's Morphin' Time! Triceratops!" he shouted.

"It's Morphin' Time!" John Cranston called. "Blue Ranger Power!"

"Navy Ranger Power!" yelled Ju Kwan.

"Aqua Ranger Power!" Vanessa Enrile said, somewhat uncertainly.

"Midnight Ranger Power!" announced Shawn Earhardt.

"It's Morphin' Time!" shouted Cestro. "Blue Aquitian Ranger Power!"

"It's Morphin' Time!" Carlos DeSantos mimicked what had been done by Billy. "Zeo Ranger III - Blue!"

"Shift into Turbo!" called Justin, turning the key in his morpher.

"Let's Rocket!" TJ yelled, pressing "335" followed by "eject" on his morpher's keypad.

"Go Galactic!" Kai followed.

"Lightspeed Rescue!" shouted Chad.

"Time for...Time Force!" stated Lucas.

"Wild Access! Surging Shark!" yelled Max.

"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form! Power of Water!" announced Tori!

"Thunder Storm, Ranger Form! Power of Thunder - Navy Thunder!" echoed Blake.

"Dino Thunder, Power Up! Ha! Tricera!" called Ethan.

"SPD Emergency!" shouted Matthew Landors and Sky simultaneously.

"Help from the Future!" Nova called. "SPD Nova Ranger!"

Madison lifted her cell-phone wand aloft. "Magical Source, Mystic Force!" she announced. "Fluid as the Sea - Blue Mystic Ranger!"

The Blue Rangers left in a surge of blue light, and Zordon returned to the task at hand. "YELLOW RANGERS," he said. Trini turned her attention to him. "IT PAINS ME TO SAY THAT BANSHEERA, VYPRA, AND TRAKEENA ARE ALL BACK, AS IS MESOGOG'S SECOND HENCHMAN, ELSA. THEY ARE IN REEFSIDE, IN THE WOODS OUTSIDE TOMMY'S HOUSE. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR THE PINK AND GREEN DINO GEMS, NOT KNOWING THAT ALPHA RETRIEVED THEM MONTHS AGO. THESE ARE MIGHTY ENEMIES, RANGERS...BE PREPARED, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU."

"We'll do our best, Zordon," Trini nodded, gesturing to her team that they were to teleport out with her. Once the yellow light had faded from the room, the other Rangers regarded each other.

"BLACK RANGERS," Zordon announced. "THIS IS MORTICON, KLANK, ORBUS, RYGOG, AND GENERAL HAVOC. THEY ARE IN BRIARWOOD AT THE MOMENT, SPLIT IN TWO LOCATIONS. MORTICON AND GENERAL HAVOC ARE IN UDONNA'S HOME. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR SPELLS TO USE AGAINST YOU. KLANK, ORBUS, AND RYGOG ARE CREATING DISTURBANCES AT THE MYSTIC RANGERS' WORKPLACE, ROCK PORIUM. BE CAREFUL, RANGERS, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU."

"Absolutely, Zordon!" Zack announced. "Come on, guys, let's go kick some alien butt!"

Zordon then turned his attention to the Green Rangers, causing Adam to straighten up, and Stephanie to quake a little. "THIS IS DIVATOX, KING MONDO AND HIS WIFE MACHINA, PRINCE GASKET AND ARCHERINA, AND SPROCKET," he stated, more for Stephanie's benefit than anyone else's. "THIS IS THE ONLY GROUP OF ALIENS SO FAR THAT CONSISTS ALMOST ENTIRELY OF ONE EMPIRE. BE WARNED, THOUGH, MY RANGERS: THE MACHINE EMPIRE IS POWERFUL AND VERY DIABOLICAL. THEY ARE OUTSIDE ANGEL GROVE, LOOKING FOR THIS COMMAND CENTER. YOUR MISSION IS TO KEEP THEM FROM FINDING THIS PLACE. BE SAFE, MY RANGERS, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU."

"We won't let you down, Zordon," Adam stated, fists clenched. "Are you guys ready?"

"Ready!" they echoed.

"It's Morphin' Time! Dragonzord!"

"It's Morphin' Time! Green Ranger Power!" Patrick Ford announced.

"Forest Ranger Power!" Tyler Stewart copied.

"Teal Tiger!" Mike called.

"Olive Ranger Power!" Victor Rawlings shouted.

"It's Morphin' Time!" Zaigra DeSantos echoed. "Zeo Ranger IV - Green!"

"Shift into Turbo!" Tamara Park yelled, amazed she knew what to say.

"Go Galactic!" Damon shouted.

"Lightspeed Rescue!" Joel announced.

"Time for...Time Force!" Trip called.

"Samurai Storm, Ranger Form!" Cam belted out.

"Green Ranger, Dino Power! Ha!" remembered Steph from the day before.

"SPD Emergency!" announced Bridge.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!" finished Xander. "Strong as a Tree - Green Mystic Ranger!"

The Green Rangers teleported out to the edges of Angel Grove, leaving the White, Red, and Metallic Rangers behind.

"ALEXANDER," Zordon announced. "YOUR TEAM WILL MEET WITH FOUR FOES I AM SURE SOME WOULD HAVE WISHED TO HAVE NEVER SEEN AGAIN. THIS IS DARK SPECTER, DARKONDA, ECLIPTOR, AND..." Zhane gasped when he saw the fourth alien.

"That's not possible," he stuttered. "She just left with Kimberly and the others..."

"BE STILL, SILVER RANGER," Zordon instructed. "THIS IS NOT KARONE, BUT HER EVIL SIDE, ASTRONEMA. DARK SPECTER BUILT A CYBORG IN HER IMAGE AND IMPLANTED ALL OF ASTRONEMA'S MEMORIES INTO HER. THEY ARE RIGHT NOW HEADED FOR MIRINOI, WANTING TO DESTROY THE COLONY THERE. GO NOW, RANGERS, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU."

"Does he say that every time?" Alyssa asked, once the Metallic Rangers had gone. Tommy nodded, grinning.

"Always," he nodded emphatically.

"RED RANGERS," Zordon began. "YOUR MISSION IS TO GO TO ZEDD AND RITA'S MOON PALACE. MASTER VILE HAS STOWED HIS NEW ZORD THERE TO RECHARGE, AND HAS PLACED DIABOLICO AND DOCTOR HELLIFAX TO GUARD IT. ALSO THERE, IMPARTING ENERGY TO THE MACHINE, IS LOKAR. JASON, YOU WILL REMEMBER WHAT A POWERFUL ENEMY THIS FOE MAY BE."

"Man, do I ever!" Jason burst out.

"BE CAREFUL, MY RANGERS, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU." After the Red Rangers had left, Zordon turned his attention to his last remaining team.

"WHITE RANGERS, YOU HAVE A VERY DIFFICULT TASK AHEAD OF YOU. MALIGORE IS BACK, AND IS ON MURANTHIUS WITH MASTER VILE, MASTER ORG, AND MESOGOG. THEY ARE PLANNING ON TAKING WIVES, BUT BEYOND THAT, I UNFORTUNATELY DO NOT KNOW MUCH. BE VERY CAREFUL, MY RANGERS, AND MAY THE POWER PROTECT YOU ALL."

"We'll take care of it, Zordon," Tommy promised. "Come on, guys, there's work to be done." With one final burst of light, the remaining Rangers teleported out of the Command Center, leaving behind the mentors, Ranger and his men, and the few remaining parents without powers.

"Ay-yi-yi, please stay safe, Rangers!" Alpha cried.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Well, what did you think? Also, I can't think of another poll question today, so we'll forgo it this time.


	17. Some Old Friends and Some New Ones

Gigletrig: That's a really good poll question you suggested, and in fact, I am going to use it in this chapter. I'm 26, and am just _now_ seeing the more recent seasons of Power Rangers. Before this, the only one I'd ever seen was Morphin'. Which, I guess considering that fact, it's pretty amazing that I've been working on this story and _Rainbow of Friendship_ for the last two years, when I hadn't the slightest clue what I was doing. So when the "Operation Overdrive" episode "Always a Ranger" was on the other day, I was excited to see Adam and Alpha, and amazed at how much Johnny Yong Bosch looks the same, even twelve years later.

Olmedo: I know I misspelled Muranthias. Funny story, actually. I typed it out, spelling it M-u-r-i-a-n-t-h-i-u-s, but that didn't look right to me, so I deleted the last two letters and retyped them, thinking I was putting "a-s" down, but when I reread the chapter after I had posted it, it still had a "u" in that spot. I'm such a dork!

GinaStar: Lol, loved your review. Yes, Kim is one of the women the bad guys want as a wife. Of course. Poor girl, seems like she just can't ever get away from the villains wanting her that way!

A/N: Congratulations to Olmedo, who figured out that Kim's "friend with benefits" Andrew Hartford was the same guy in Operation Overdrive, Mack's father. By the way, I know that Overdrive didn't start until February of 2007, but in this story, they are just getting their powers in December of 2006, so just a couple months early. Enjoy!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kimberly and her group of Pink Rangers landed on the outskirts of San Angeles, CA - where Zordon had mentioned the Corona Aurora was likely to be - and glanced around.

"OK, ladies, just keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious, I guess," Kim mentioned, motioning the others to follow her.

"Anything suspicious, like a group of people being attacked by Fire and Ice?" Karone queried, gesturing to a field behind them. The women turned around and, sure enough, there were the aliens Zordon had mentioned - Moltor and Flurious, Kim recalled, and Zeltrax, and a couple extras that Zordon hadn't mentioned - and what appeared to be their particular brands of foot soldiers surrounding a group of seven people. Four of them were young adults wearing matching jackets in different colored trims: Black, Blue, Pink, and Yellow; and the other three Kimberly couldn't make out very well because they were blocked. All the civilians, however, were on the ground, struggling to get up, as if in major pain.

"Could that be a new Power Team?" Jen asked, referring to the jackets.

"Possible," Kim nodded. "Either way, looks like they can use our help. Ready, ladies?"

"Ready!" the others affirmed.

"Let's do it. It's Morphin' Time! Pterodactyl!"

"It's Morphin' Time! Pink Ranger Power!" echoed Julia Scott.

"Lavender Ranger Power!" repeated Mei Kwan.

"Coral Ranger Power!" announced Sabrina Hillard.

"Peach Ranger Power!" Mary Winslow rejoined.

"It's Morphin' Time!" Kendrix called, slightly unsure of herself. "Zeo Ranger I - Pink!"

"Shift into Turbo!" came Kat's Australian lilt.

"Let's Rocket!" offered Cassie.

"Go Galactic!" Karone shouted.

"Lightspeed Rescue!" Dana announced, jumping through her medical shield.

Jen crossed her wrists. "Time for...Time Force!"

"Lightning Storm, Ranger Form! Power of Lightning - Pink Lightning!" Kapri squealed, trying to recall how Sensei had taught her. Her pink tunic was similar to Tori's blue one, but was offset with a gold belt shaped like a lightning bolt, and gold tights underneath.

"Dino Thunder, Power Up! Maia!" belted out Stephanie Dumas.

"SPD Emergency!" Syd and Belle flipped open their badges, holding them out in front of themselves.

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!" yelled Vida and Louise.

"Ever-Changing as the Wind - Pink Mystic Ranger!" came Vida's roll call.

"Rich as the Soil of the Earth - Mystic Wood Nymph!" Louise's uniform came out in the exact style of Vida's, but the colors were opposite. Where Vida had a pink tunic and helmet with black trim and white tights, Louise had a white tunic and helmet with pink trim and pink tights. Her cape, however, was the same as her daughter's.

Once all were morphed, Kim noticed that the ice-man - Flurious - was about to bring his staff down on one of the people, while the others were being held by the rest of the goons. She could hear a familiar voice yelling, "Mack!", and knew immediately who the three non-matching civilians were, but she also knew she had no time to lose if she wanted to save Mack from Flurious.

Quickly, she flipped over the battling groups, calling for her Power Bow as she did so. She landed and blocked the white-and-blue alien's blow with her weapon, pushing him backwards.

"Back off, Frosty!" she demanded, delivering a backwards kick, standing over the fallen boy protectively. "Didn't your mother ever teach you not to kick a person when he's down?" She could feel her counterparts deliver matching kicks to force the remaining aliens to release their prisoners.

Instinctively, the morphed Pink Rangers formed a barrier of protection around their charges, facing outward in a circle, weapons drawn on their enemies.

"Did somebody hose the field with Pepto Bismol?" the alien rejoined, picking up his staff as he prepared to attack. Kim let loose a volley of arrows, each one catching Flurious directly in the chest. He went down hard on his knees, then stood and charged the Pink Morphin' Ranger, who flipped backwards, kicking the goon under his chin and sending him flying backwards.

Moltor sounded the charge attack, running towards Jen and Kendrix, who glance at each other and nod. Jen combines her Chrono Sabers into one double-edged sword, and Kendrix puts away her Zeo Disc in favor of her Zeo Blade and Laser Pistol. Moltor delivered an uppercut to Kendrix, then struck her across the front with his blade. Jen, not about to let him harm her friend, brings one side of her saber down on the alien, sliding it across his chest to create friction sparks before landing a blow with the other side.

Two unknown entities: a female wearing a ninja/samurai outfit and a blue cyborg with a gray fur collar roundhoused on Syd, Belle, and Dana, knocking the two SPD Rangers and the Lightspeed Rescue Ranger together. Syd and Belle placed their hands on nearby rocks and, absorbing the minerals into their hands, backhanded the evil beings. Dana blocked a blow by the female and soccer-kicked her before bringing her Rescue Blaster and Thermo Blaster to bear. Syd and Belle, likewise, pulled out their Deltamax Strikers in laser mode, and the three Rangers fired, causing their enemies to flip backwards and fall, face-first, onto the ground.

Zeltrax, bringing his sword to bear, charged at Mei Kwan, Julia Scott, and Stephanie Dumas. The three ladies, unskilled in the world of martial arts, defended themselves blindly at first, blocking blows with their forearms and their weapons, until they realized that simply blocking their enemy wasn't going to win them this battle. Julia blocked Zeltrax with the palm of her right hand before snap-kicking him with her left leg. Mei flipped over his head while side-kicking him in the head, and Stephanie delivered an uppercut to his jaw and a roundhouse to his abdomen, causing him to stagger backwards and fall.

"Do either of you ladies know how we did that?" Julia demanded of her long-time friends.

"Billy and Kim mentioned that the same kind of thing happened to them the first time they morphed," Stephanie explained. "They instinctively knew how to fight back."

Vida, Louise, and Kat were being attacked by grayish-white goblin-looking things that spit torches at them. Two such were on either side of Kat, who knelt down, slamming her closed fists into their abdomens before jumping up and performing a split-kick, knocking them backwards. No matter how many the got rid of, however, it seemed that more kept coming, so Louise lifted her MagiStaff, creating a blockade of various earth minerals found in the field - gypsum, selenium, and quartz, specifically - around the goobers. Vida's counter-attack was a strong gust of wind, which whipped around the foot soldiers, making them dizzy and causing them to fall over amid a shower of sparks.

"Show-offs," muttered Kat good-naturedly.

Sabrina Hillard and Mary Winslow were having a hard time against the red lizard-like foot soldiers. They were in a losing battle, unsure of what to do and not yet tapped into their borrowed powers, so were on the ground with the lizards standing over them, about to execute one final blow, when Kapri, Cassie, and Karone came to their aid.

"You two look like you're about out of energy," Kapri commented to her fallen counterparts, offhandedly. "Let me give you a charge." She cupped her hands together in front of her, creating a visible electric current before pushing it outwards into the sea of red. The lightning current jumped from lizard to lizard, leaving them dazed and slightly torched, but still standing.

Cassie flip-kicked one of the foot soldiers back into line with his brethren, before sending a powerful beam of energy from her Satellite Stunner at the same time that Karone fired her Quasar Launcher. The lizards disappeared amid a shower of sparks.

"Smokin'!" Kapri, Karone, and Cassie declared, lowering their weapons and helping Mary and Sabrina up.

Flurious, furious with Kimberly for thwarting his attack, tried one more time to send a powerful beam of energy from his staff to destroy the Rangers. Kimberly lifted her hands, intending to leap out of the way, but the blast never hit her or her charges. Looking up, all noticed a pink field of energy surrounding them. Once Kimberly lowered her hands, the field disappeared as well.

"Looks like you could use some help," she commented to the group huddled in the center of the Pink Rangers' ring.

"Who are these people?" the woman in the yellow-lined jacket asked, standing up.

"I don't know, but I like the suits!" came the goofy reply from the one in blue.

"They're-they're Power Rangers!" exclaimed the one in pink. "Pink Power Rangers!"

"Since when are there more Rangers?" demanded the fire-donning alien, Moltor. "It's bad enough these punks have listened to that pathetic excuse for a leader over there," here he was pointing to Andrew, "and donned Power Ranger suits. Thrax never said there would be more!"

"Where _is_ that muscle-bound excuse for a he-devil, anyhow?" Flurious demanded, disappearing. The other evil entities followed suit, amidst varying levels of threats for more directed at the Rangers.

"Power Down!" the seventeen morphed Rangers ordered simultaneously, their uniforms being replaced by their clothing once more. Kimberly, having changed out of her tight clothing at the Command Center, offered a hand to help Mack up, who grinned incredulously when he saw her.

"Dr. Hart!" he cried, leaping up and wrapping Kim in his arms. Andrew's head snapped up at the sound of his son's voice and he stared at Kimberly disbelievingly.

"Kimberly?" he asked, coming up to her slowly.

"Hi, Andrew," she smiled fondly back at him. "Should have known you'd be creating a Power Team eventually."

"Mr. Hartford, do you know these people?" the boy in blue demanded.

"Uh, really only Kimberly here," the adventurer replied. "She's an old...friend...of mine."

"Well, whoever you are," the girl in pink declared. "Thanks so much."

"We're happy to help," Kim stated, glancing back at her team. "Right, guys?"

"Right!" they responded.

Andrew was still staring at the woman in front of him. "You're a Power Ranger?" he mulled. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Andy, I'd be happy to answer all of your questions," Kim promised. "But maybe not here...this isn't the best place for it," she decided, glancing around. Finally noticing the third non-matching person, she grinned widely. "Spencer!"

"Dr. Hart, it's always a pleasure," the butler intoned.

"We can go to our base," Andrew announced. "It's at my house, which is a few miles that way." He pointed. "But we're going to have to walk, because we won't _all_ fit into our team's vehicles."

"No need," Kim shook her head, raising her wrist and pressing down a button on her communicator. "Alpha, can you lock down our coordinates in the system and send down the Pink Rangers' various vehicles, along with appropriate outer wear?" she requested.

"Right away, Kimberly," came the automaton's stilted reply.

A few moments passed, then, in a flash of pink energy, an assortment of vehicles materialized. Kimberly approached her Shark Cycle, gratified to notice the pink rider's jacket, matching helmet, and white gloves hanging on one of the handlebars. Kat introduced Kendrix to the Pink Zeo Jet Cycle - which Alpha had included with black rider's jacket trimmed in pink, pink and black helemt, and black gloves - before turning her attention to her Pink Turbo Cart. Sitting on the front seat was a pink rider's jacket, helmet, and gloves.

Cassie approached her Galaxy Glider, gratified to find her old gray suit with pink turtleneck on it, along with pink gloves and gray-and-pink helmet. Karone, in turn, walked up to her Pink Jet Jammer, pulling the pink-and-silver jacket off the seat, along with the silver helmet and pink gloves. Also present was Dana's Lightspeed Cycle - with a pink jacket, gloves, and helmet included, all imprinted with the Lightspeed logo - and Lightspeed's Rescue Rover. Jen pulled on her black-and-pink leather jacket, pink helmet, and black gloves, and mounted her Pink Vector Cycle, and Kapri, adequately covered by her Ninja Academy uniform, pulled on the black and pink helmet included with her new Pink Tsunami Cycle that Cam had created before he knew who the Pink and Orange Rangers would be.

Syd and Drew, both wearing their respective Space Patrol Delta standard-issue uniforms, climbed into their Delta Cruiser, not needing helmets, and Vida and Louise pulled on their form-fitting leather black leather vests with pink trim, and picking up their helmets. Vida's was pink with white trim, and Louise's was white with pink trim.

Kimberly walked up to her mother, who was examining the last vehicle doubtfully. "Mom, this is your Pink Dino ATV. Tommy and Trent each had one, in their respective colors, and Alpha modeled this one after Tommy's, when the Pink Dino Gem was found." She picked up the black-and-pink rider's jacket, pink helmet, and black gloves and handed them to her mother before mounting her Shark Cycle and turning her attention to Mei, Julia, Sabrina, and Mary.

"Alpha sent down Lightspeed's extra vehicle, the Rescue Rover, for you four, since you don't really have bikes of your own. Since it's a Lightspeed-issue vehicle, you won't need any outer wear to protect your identities," she explained before turning her attention back to Andrew, who gawked at the arsenal. "Lead on, McDuff," she grinned.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Billy's team materialized at the entrance to the Wind Ninja Academy and found nothing out of place. "Tori," Billy called to the Blue Wind Ranger, "You and Blake are more familiar with the Academy that I am. Does anything look out of place to you two?"

"Not that I can see, Billy," Tori responded, slowly circling to see the Academy's entire courtyard. Blake nodded his agreement.

"There's nothing wrong here, Billy," he announced.

Billy nodded. "Then Lothor and his goons haven't gotten here yet," he concluded. "We need to find a way to keep them from destroying this place, and I think I've got it. Tori and Blake, a good portion of this will hinge on you two, since you're the only two on the team Lothor is likely to know by sight." The two nodded their acceptance, and Billy continued. "Sky, I'm gonna need your help, too, since you are more familiar with Gruumm than the rest of us are likely to be."

"Whatever you need, just name it," Sky assured his leader.

Billy nodded. "I may just have to hold you to that. Lucas, how well do you know Gluto? Did your team battle him very much?"

The Blue Time Force Ranger shrugged. "We don't know him as well as Ransik and Nadira, of course, but I know enough of him to give you a general outline. What do you need?"

"For you to pick one or two other people here and keep him busy," Billy replied. "I hear he's strong, but he's not smart, and is not as much a fighter as the others, am I correct?"

Luke nodded. "The last time I saw him, he was cryogenically freezing himself to avoid engaging in battle and the possibility of being taken back to 3000 to pay for his crimes. I'll take Max and Chad," he decided. Billy nodded his acceptance, then turned to the Lightspeed and Wild Force Rangers.

"Do whatever Lucas asks you guys to, got it?" The two nodded their understanding of the orders. "Good. Madison, you're on Imperious, since your team just defeated him last month."

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Don't these goons ever give up?" she demanded. "Can I take Ethan and Mrs. Enrile with me?" she requested.

Billy, surprised that she had asked for help from someone she didn't know, but not so surprised about Ethan, agreed to the request, on one condition. "No hanky-panky, you two," he joked with the Mystic Force and Dino Thunder Rangers, knowing that they were dating.

"Puh-lease, we are _not_ Conner," Ethan defended.

"Dad, Mr. Kwan, Justin, you guys are on the Hidiacs that Imperious is sure to bring with him. Mr. DeSantos, and TJ, you guys are on Lothor's foot soldiers, the Kelzacks. Mr. Landors and Nova, you two are helping Sky deal with Gruumm, while Kai and Mr. Earhardt are clearing a path through the Krybots for them. Cestro, you're with me. Everyone got it?"

"Got it!" they announced together.

"Good, then here's the plan for Lothor." For the next few minutes, he was outlining his idea to his group. Tori and Blake, respecting the authority in Billy's voice and the wisdom of his decisions, agreed with his plan. Cestro also agreed, and the Rangers went to prepare for the coming battle.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So, you were all Power Rangers?" Rose asked the seventeen people before her.

"Well, not exactly," Kimberly admitted. Andrew perked up at that. _Maybe she wasn't a Ranger, after all,_ he thought to himself.

"I was the first Pink Ranger." Andrew deflated inwardly. "Then I went on to the Pan Globals, and Kat took my place." The blonde Australian waved.

"That's right!" Rose snapped her fingers. "That's where I've seen you! You won the gold medal in three Gymnastics events in the 1996 Pan Global Games, which immediately put you into the Olympic Circuit." Kimberly nodded her head, encouraging the newest Pink Ranger to continue the story. "You've participated in the last three Summer Olympic Games, winning nine gold medals, three silvers, and one bronze for a grand total of _thirteen_ Olympic Medals."

"I'm impressed," Kimberly smiled.

"So am I," stated the newest Yellow Ranger, Ronny, staring amazed at Kimberly.

"That's not all," insisted Rose. "Every year you put out a music album, but you don't collect the proceeds on it. I have them all...you're really good!"

"So are you," Kim admitted. "Where did you find all this out?"

"Rose is something of a genius," Andrew explained.

"Yeah, she was in college when she was _seven_," Will added.

"And had a PhD by the time she was sixteen," finished Dax.

"Now I'm really impressed," Kimberly laughed. "To finish my story, though, Kat took my place three years into my term. Two years later, Cassie took her place, and an additional two years after that, Kendrix became the Pink Galaxy Ranger. She died, though, so Karone took her place, but she came back to life later. When Lightspeed Rescue started up a year later, Dana took her place as the reigning Pink Ranger. In 2001, when Time Force came back from the future, Jen had taken up the mantle, and she was such a great Pink Ranger that nobody could be found to take her place for _five _years. That was last year, and Vida was the Pink Mystic Force Ranger. Right now, Belle is getting her start as the A-Squad Pink Ranger on Space Patrol Delta, and her daughter Sydney will have it, eighteen years in the future."

As Kim had been telling her story, each of the Pink Rangers had waved as their respective names were called. "Then why are there so many extras?" Mack wanted to know.

Kim explained about the missions Zordon had planned for, and the project she had just completed for him to bring back the former powers. "We needed people to take our places," she concluded, "so we asked our parents and, well, here we are."

"Well, whatever the reason," Andrew insisted. "Thanks so much for your help. We're so glad you're here."

"We're happy to help," Kimberly repeated. "Once a Ranger..."

"Always a Ranger," Kat, Cassie, Kendrix, Karone, Dana, Jen, Syd, Belle, and Vida finished.

"Why didn't you ever tell me that you were a Power Ranger?" Andrew demanded.

"Andy, it's not exactly something you blurt out to just anybody," Kim declared.

"I'd like to think that I am more than 'just anybody' to you, Kim," he murmured lowly.

"Don't feel too bad, Mr. Hartford," Stephanie cut in. "I'm her mother, and I didn't know until just a couple days ago."

"So let me see if I've got this straight," Kimberly changed the subject. "Will Alton, Black. Dax Lo, Blue. Veronica Robinson, Yellow. Rose Ortiz, Pink. Mack Hartford, Red. And you five make up the newest Power Team, Operation Overdrive?"

"Well, all except me," Mack raised his hand. "I really only morphed once to help out my dad, who was being attacked.

"I see," Kimberly furrowed her brow, glancing at Andrew. "A Power Team without a Red? I've never heard of such a thing."

"Actually, there _is_ a Red power," Andrew stated. "And Mack would like to have it, but..."

"But Dad won't let me," Mack supplied.

"It's too dangerous!" Andrew declared.

"And, knowing you, you would probably like to have it yourself, am I right?" Kimberly concluded.

"Well, what would you do?" he shouted. "If Mackenzie were your son - which he might very well _have_ been if things had been different between you and me - would you let him go?"

"This isn't about me," Kimberly hedged. "You're asking someone who already has been a Ranger."

"Exactly," Andrew insisted. "You've been there, so you can make an unbiased observation. Would you let him go?"

"If I say yes - and I'm not saying yes or no just yet - but if I say yes and I give you a legitimate reason why, will you at least take that into consideration?" she demanded.

"Absolutely."

"Good. Mack," she turned to the young man. "Do you trust Will, Dax, Ronny, and Rose?"

"I do," he responded, curious where she was going with this.

"And do you four trust Mack enough to submit yourselves under his authority? To let him lead you into battle?" she pressed.

"He's already done that once, and it worked out great," Rose commented. "I say yes."

"Me, too," came Ronny's reply, followed closely by Will and Dax's affirmative responses.

"I say let him do it," Kim declared, turning back to her ex. "And I'll tell you exactly why. This team trusts each other, and trust is the biggest advantage any Ranger team can have over their enemies. The bad guys don't trust each other; they each have their own agendas, and they're going their own separate ways. They just might walk down the same path every now and again, but never for very long. And they know that they can't trust each other. That's why they'll never win. There are no hidden agendas among a team of Power Rangers. Everyone's working towards the same common goal: to keep the planet safe. I know I can trust any one of these women behind me to lay down her life for me, if the decision came to that. I'd never ask anyone to do it, but I know they would, and I would do the same in a heartbeat. _That's_ what makes a great team, not the power you get or the weapons you have...it's that trust that wins every battle."

Andrew was quiet for a few minutes, pondering over the speech Kimberly had just given and the round of nods from all of the other Pink Rangers, and came to a conclusion. "Mack, do you really want this?" he finally asked.

"I do, Dad. Really," Mack replied earnestly.

"Then welcome to the team, son," he announced, handing Mack his new morpher and jacket.

Mack went to hug his dad, but just then, the monster alarm chimed another attack.

"Looks like it's back to action," Kim declared, reaching into her back pocket.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: Thanks a bunch to Gigletrig, who supplied this chapter's poll question. Remember, I can't always think of good poll questions to ask, so if you can think of something that you're curious about what people think of, then go ahead and send them to me and I'll put them into my next chapter. Thanks!

**Poll Question: Last season, five previous Rangers were brought back to help the Overdrive Rangers during a time they were cut off from the Morphin' Grid. Tori, Kira, Bridge, and Xander are well known to the younger people watching the show, because they've been around recently. But Adam was not known to most current fans of the show. Should Disney give guest spots to more of the older Rangers - like they did with Adam in "Always a Ranger", to sort of introduce them to the new or younger fans?**


	18. A New Foe and a New Beginning

Psychedelicpink1: I never intended to NOT finish this story, but I also never intended to go so long between updates and for that I apologize. I do know that Andrew does still hold some feelings for Kim, but I haven't decided where those feelings are going quite yet. I don't know when the wedding will happen, but I do know that it won't take place within the next few chapters. I'll explain the car incident in my author's note, and a little bit about the extra characters.

Andyg2525: I'm so glad you think my story is perfect! Writers live for reviews like yours!

Archmore: I'm glad you like my stories; I certainly enjoy writing them, although you wouldn't know it from how infrequently I've been updating I agree, it's sad that there will be no more team-ups; it would be nice to see some of the older generation from time to time.

Prophet144: Reflexes are slower, yes, but keep in mind this isn't permanent. This is a temporary set-up until they pare down the villains. And I won't be having any of the parents going against any of the major villains, either; really just the bumbling inept ones and the putty/tenga types. Also, come to think of it, Udonna, Leanbow, and Daggeron are older rangers, as was Dulcea. And I know it is hard to keep track of them all; since it's been so long since my last update I find myself writing notes to myself about relationship pairings and the like so that I don't accidentally mess up the pairs. Once the parents finish their work here and go back to their respective lives, it'll get a lot easier to keep track of, especially since I'm toying with a mind-wipe for the parents kind of like the one Bulk and Skull got when they _finally_ succeeded in finding out the identities of the Power Rangers. I just remembered that, so I might have to go back and rewatch that episode…

Crazedchick: I'm glad you love this story so much. I have to admit, so do I although I forgot about it for awhile. I have a good excuse, though, I promise

GinaStar: I'm aware of the fact that Kim's conditions haven't come up recently; I just noticed that when I re-read the story. They will make appearances this chapter, however, as Kim has appointments with both of her doctors. When we return to the different team quests, however, it probably won't be mentioned until after each color group completes their mission. I also haven't mentioned Trini's pregnancy, or Dana's or Jen's, come to think of it Looks like I'm going to have to plan some Tommy/Kim moments, Trini/Billy moments, Dana/Jason moments, and Jen/Wes moments

Gigletrig: Yes, I used your question If you have any more to offer, that would be great! It does seem like Andrew is jealous, doesn't it? And I really didn't even want him to be, either! Oh, well, sometimes these things just happen on their own. I really didn't want Kim to have Leukemia, but here she is

**A/N: OK, I know I have been gone for a reeeaaaalllyyy long time. As I mentioned to crazedchick, though, I do have a good excuse. I met a guy a few months after my last chapter was written, then we got engaged, married, and we just had a baby last summer. So I've been kinda busy **** But it was always my intention to finish this story, and I always do what I set out to do; it just takes me awhile to finish my projects sometimes ;)**

The pink rangers – along with the Overdrive team – materialized in a rock quarry where Thrax, Flurious, Moltor, Kamdor, Miratrix, Zeltrax and all their henchmen had congregated.

_Why is it that these epic battles always seem to take place in a rock quarry?_ Kim thought sardonically as she strode alongside Jen, Kat, and the Overdrive team slightly ahead of the other pink rangers.

"Let's do it!" shouted Mack. "Ready?"

"Ready!" the others responded.

"Overdrive Accelerate!" called Mack, Rose, Dax, Will, and Ronny.

"It's Morphin' Time! Pterodactyl!" called Kim.

"Pink Ranger Power!"

"Lavender Ranger Power!"

"Coral Ranger Power!"

"Peach Ranger Power!"

"Zeo Ranger I – Pink!"

"Shift into Turbo!"

"Let's Rocket!"

"Go Galactic!"

"Lightspeed Rescue!"

"Time for Time Force!"

"Lightning Storm, Ranger Form!"

"Dino Thunder, Power Up!"

"SPD Emergency!"

"Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

"Come, my evil alliance!" Thrax announced, sounding the charge. Moltor and Flurious engaged their respective foot soldiers, Lava Lizards and Chillers, ahead first then followed shortly behind, along with Thrax, Miratrix, Kamdor, and Zeltrax.

The rangers charged ahead, instinctively splitting up among the various villains. Mei, Julia, and Stephanie Dumas took on the Chillers while Sabrina, Mary, and Louise kept the Lava Lizards busy.

Kimberly, Dana, and Jen charged Thrax, who tried to bring his Z-staff down on Kimberly. Kim blocked it with her Power Bow, pushed the staff away, and swung her left arm around in an arc, which Thrax ducked. Dana thrust her V-lancer towards Thrax's midsection, but he sideswiped it, turned, and parried with his staff. Jen, using her Chrono Sabers in lance mode, swung her weapon around her head, brought it down on Thrax's shoulder, and pulled back causing the villain to fall back amid a shower of sparks.

Flurious charged at Mack, Dax, and Kat, who used her Wind Fire to let loose a volley of arrows on the villain while still charging. Flurious, ignoring the sparks flying around him, continued to charge, holding out his staff toward the rangers. Once they had reached each other, Flurious brought his staff around overhand to strike the rangers, but Mack blocked with his Drive Lance and pushed back. Dax used his Drive Vortex to push himself off the ground and above Flurious' head, then used his Drive Defender in saber mode and brought the weapon down on the back of the villain's head.

Zeltrax, engaging Will, Vida, and Kendrix, swung his sword around, striking Vida in the middle and sending her flying into a nearby boulder. Nonplussed, Vida picked herself up and joined the battle once again, while Will used his Drive Slammer to knock Zeltrax in the sternum, then swung around the other direction, attempting to hit the cyborg across the back of the head, but Zeltrax ducked the blow. Vida used her Magi Staff in wand mode to create a gust of wind strong enough launch a volley of boulders at Zeltrax, who used his sword to block the boulders and knock them away. Kendrix took advantage of his preoccupation to launch her Zeo Disc at him, effectively slicing him in half. The cyborg sparked as he fell, and exploded once he hit the ground.

Kamdor and Miratrix attacked Ronny, Belle, Karone and Sydney. The four rangers were using their respective sidearms in saber modes to block and parry the thrusts of Kamdor and Miratrix's weapons. Suddenly Kamdor, in a moment when he found himself disengaged, let forth a volley of explosions behind the ranger women, who jumped up and flipped backwards to avoid being hit.

"Drive Claws!" Ronny called, bringing forth her weapons. She used them to scoop at some boulder rubble and throw it at the two ninjas. Karone used her Transdaggers in beta bow form to send a series of flaming arrows at the villains. Kamdor and Miratrix flipped out of the line of fire, however, avoiding the Overdrive and Galaxy Rangers' attacks and responded by sending another shower of explosions to the ladies. Belle and Sydney, jumping sideways so as not to be hit, switched their Deltamax Enforcers from saber mode to pistol mode so they could return fire. The ninjas were thrown back with the force of the shots and landed face-first near Flurious.

Cassie, Rose, and Kapri flipped through the blasts Moltor was sending their way.

"Drive Geiser!" Rose summoned her weapon, firing concentrated blasts of water towards the overheated lizard, causing him to stumble backwards. He regained his footing, however, and redoubled his attack, kicking at Kapri. The trainee ninja ranger, however, would have none of that, blocked his kicks and pulled out her laser blaster, returning fire. This allowed Cassie to pull out her Satellite Stunner and send Moltor flying backwards amid all the sparks flying around him.

The rangers regrouped, facing the battered lineup of evil entities – minus Zeltrax, who had been destroyed by Kendrix. They each pulled out their respective sidearms and opened fire, causing massive explosions behind their foes.

"Power Rangers forever!" they shouted in unison.

"Come on, Miratrix; we've got jewels to find!" announced Kamdor in a huff.

"Not if I find them first!" retorted Moltor.

"Fat chance, Lizard Lips!" chimed in Flurious, who disappeared in a swirl of snow and ice. One by one, the other villains followed suit, until there was only Thrax remaining.

"You Power Punks haven't seen the last of me!" he warned before disappearing himself.

"Now that's what I call Ranger Power!" Mack exclaimed, holding his hand out to Kimberly.

"You got that right!" the Pink Ranger responded, laughing as she clasped his hand.

Later, back at the Hartford mansion, the rangers – old and new alike – were chatting about their respective adventures when Kimberly heard her cell phone chiming.

"Sorry, guys, I gotta go," she announced sheepishly, shutting off the offending device.

"Yeah, us too," added Jen, Kendrix and Dana.

"So soon?" Rose inquired. "There was so much we wanted to talk to you guys about!"

"Yeah, you can stay for awhile, can't you Kimberly?" Andrew looked hopeful.

"You can reach us anytime you need us," Kimberly explained. "And the other pink rangers can stay for a little bit if they would like, but the three of us have doctor appointments tonight."

"Doctor's appointments? Oh my God Kimberly, is everything alright?" Andrew demanded.

"Oh, are you guys finding out the genders of your babies tonight?" Cassie asked excitedly.

The four ladies glanced at each other and laughed. "Yeah," admitted Dana. "Well, at least we're gonna try. They won't be able to tell us for sure until at least sixteen weeks, and we're only at fifteen right now, but there's a small possibility we may be able to tell the genders. And Kim also has an appointment with Dr. Rocca."

The pink rangers nodded solemnly. "Good luck, Kimberly," her mother stated, reaching out to wrap her daughter in her arms. "We'll all be praying."

"Of course we will!" added Julia Scott and Mei Kwan, also wrapping the younger woman in their arms.

"Thanks, moms," Kim giggled nervously, nodding at the other three. "Let's go ladies," she stated as they teleported back to her bungalow in Baltimore.

"She's pregnant?" Mack asked incredulously. "She looks smaller than she was the last time she was here, doesn't she Dad?"

"She does," Andrew acknowledged quietly as he excused himself and left the room.

"Looks like he's not as over Kimberly as she says he is," Kapri commented, not noticing the dumbfounded looks her teammates were giving her.

Kimberly, Dana, Jen, and Kendrix rematerialized inside Kimberly's bungalow just as Trini did. Kim grabbed her keys from the coffee table and the five ladies headed out to their appointments.

"Hi, Melissa," Kim greeted the receptionist, who looked as if she was just getting ready to leave.

"Well, good evening, Dr. Cranston, Miss Scotts, Dr. Mitchell, Miss Morgan, Miss Kwan," Melissa responded brightly. "Do you all have appointments with Dr. Chan tonight?"

"Yes," the five rangers announced simultaneously. Kim explained the situation, and the receptionist nodded her understanding as she checked everyone in. As the ladies were seating themselves, the door chimed someone entering. Kim looked up and shrieked. Walking towards her were Tommy and Billy, followed by Jason, Adam, and Wes.

"Don't you guys have…work…to do?" Trini demanded, after proper greetings had been completed.

"You didn't think you could have ultrasounds done without us there, did you?" Jason responded, squeezing Dana around the shoulders.

"Don't worry," Adam added, seeing the look in Kim's eyes. "We _all_ got our assignments completed.

"How is Stephanie?" Kim asked her friend.

"She did great!" Adam responded enthusiastically. "I paired her up with Xander and she did really well."

"Kimberly?" called Dr. Chan's medical assistant, Heather. Kim and Tommy followed her back and Heather got Kim's weight, took a urine sample, and took her blood pressure taken before wishing the pair a good evening and leaving the room. Kim took advantage of the few minutes she had before the doctor was to come in and adjusted herself on the exam table, reworking her wraparound blouse and her skirt to reveal the slightest bulge in her tummy. Tommy grinned, looking at the evidence of his child growing.

Just then, Dr. Chan bustled in. A small woman, she nonetheless exuded confidence every time Kimberly had been in to see her.

"Good evening, Kimberly," she greeted, sitting down and glancing through Kim's chart. "Everything looks good on your chart, except you are not where I would like you to be with your weight," the gynecologist chided good-naturedly. "Your fiancé needs to work on fattening you up a little."

"Oh believe me, I try," Tommy defended. "There isn't anything I haven't attempted to get her to eat."

"Well, let's see your baby, shall we?" the doctor asked, grabbing her ultrasound probe and squeezing some gel on it. She placed the tip of the probe directly over Kimberly's bump and moved it around until an image popped on the screen. Kimberly stared at the image of her child, then gasped.

"Is that…what I think it is?" Kimberly asked, pointing at a portion of the image.

Dr. Chan scrutinized the screen, zoomed in then out again, and burst out laughing.

"No, I don't think it is," she explained. She adjusted her probe on Kimberly's stomach to be below the baby bump, and pointed it up towards her sternum. What now showed on the screen caused both Kimberly and Tommy to do double takes.

There were two heads, four arms, and four legs. "Kimberly, didn't you mention that Trini's fiancé is your twin brother?" Dr. Chan asked nonchalantly.

Kim and Tommy nodded dumbly. "Her mother is a twin, as well," Tommy responded, a smile growing wide on his face. Quickly, he leaned down and planted a kiss on Kim's grinning lips. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," Kim replied. "Do we know what they are yet?" she turned her attention to the doctor.

"Well, let's see," Dr. Chan responded, moving the probe over Kim's belly and taking a series of images in the process. "The babies are curled up, facing each other, which is making it difficult to see things," she explained, pressing the probe into Kim's belly. "If we can get them to wake up and move a little bit, we might be able to take a peek." Deciding that just pressing the probe wasn't enough, Dr. Chan began bouncing the instrument rapidly.

"Ah!" Kim shrieked, startled by the sudden sharp movements.

"Sorry," Dr. Chan responded sheepishly. "But the jostling may just wake them up."

Sure enough, one of the babies yawned and stretched out, which caused the other one to turn around and do the same. Quickly, Dr. Chan froze both images and saved them, before pointing out what Kim and Tommy wanted to know.

"Well Kimberly, everything looks good. _Very_ good, in fact," Dr. Rocca observed, studying her chart. "You are finally beginning to gain some weight, which is good for your pregnancy, and your cancer cells are not increasing. However, they are also not decreasing, which is slightly problematic."

"How do you mean? If they aren't increasing and they aren't decreasing, then doesn't that mean that the tea is doing exactly what you told me it would?" Kim demanded.

"Well, yes. However, your pregnancy is taking away all of your energy at this time. And whatever healthy white cells you have are going directly toward protecting your baby."

"So there is the probability that things will not remain at this equilibrium," Kim concluded dully. "Especially given that I'm carrying twins."

"Really? That's wonderful! Congratulations!" Dr. Rocca responded warmly. Then, more seriously, "But yes, adding another fetus will decrease the defense to your own body."

"So then what are my options?" Kim inquired. "If radiation and chemo are out, and you don't want to do the tea anymore, what's left?"

"Well, actually I have been doing some research on that very thing. Many facilities in Asia have had great success in treating Leukemia with holistic medicine," the oncologist replied.

"You mean treating the mind and body as well as the disease?"

Dr. Rocca nodded. "Absolutely. In their culture, the disease is actually part of the body so they find little use in simply treating the disease. They believe that a balance between mind and body will lead naturally to a healing of illness. To this end, I have prescribed a schedule of exercise to be followed as well as a diet. I know you already do both of those, but humor me. I don't mean strenuous exercise such as gymnastics or martial arts, either," he added sardonically.

"Rather, I'd encourage you to take up yoga or pilates. Something that will keep you toned and limber but will not tax you. Eat foods high in omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon, olives, and nuts are all good to have, although keep the salmon limited to about five ounces a week. Also, I am sending a referral to Dr. Melody Hawkins, a therapist here in the hospital."

"A- a shrink?" Kim asked skeptically. "I don't know if I'm comfortable-"

"You need to keep your mind healthy, Kim. A therapist does not need to be associated with curing crazy people. Sometimes, they are there simply to listen to you, as an impartial observer, so to speak."

At Kim's nod of acquiescence, Dr. Rocca continued. "And there are some things you can do at home to keep yourself in harmony. Painting and cooking are both excellent forms of stress therapy. Take up pottery, or read a book.

"Bottom line, slow down your pace a little. I know you are still working for your lab from Baltimore; call up your boss and let him know that you are taking a sabbatical. In order to get better, you need to focus on _you_ and not everyone else around you.

"Finally, I am going to keep you on the herbs, but I am going to add in some mistletoe, which is a popular treatment in Germany for nausea, and very fitting with this time of year, I think."

Kim giggled. "Very fitting, indeed," she replied. "Anything else?"

"One more thing," Dr. Rocca nodded. "I am going to schedule a bone marrow transplant for one month from today. Your brother can be the donor; his marrow is a close match. If, as I suspect, the holistic regimen does its job, then your body will be ready to fight the cancer cells inside of it. Some healthy marrow will aid in that fight. We are no longer going to try to hold off the spread of your cancer; we're going to fight it. If we succeed, there is a good chance that you will give birth in five months completely cancer-free. Are you up for the challenge?"

"You bet!" Kimberly agreed enthusiastically.

**A/N: I know this chapter was a llloooonnnggg time coming, but I hope it didn't disappoint! Also, I had some people ask if they could write some stories from my universe focusing on some of the couples that are not seen often here. If you would like to, just let me know and I will send you the list of couples I have. **

**Poll Question: Should all the expectant couples be finding out the genders of the babies, or do you think some of them would rather not know? Why do you feel that way?**


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